Reset Code: Aincrad
by Silius1
Summary: An unknown fluctuation in the virtualization to the virtual world of Lyoko has instead sent the warrior: Ulrich Stern to the virtual reality world of Aincrad in the game: Sword Art Online. Will he survive, or will he fall prey to the monsters? This version will be higher quality than the original...hopefully. Please R
1. Prologue: The Beginning

The first VRMMORPG has just entered Beta Testing and one thousand Beta Testers have been selected at relative randomness among the population of Japan. How far will these betas get inside the first MMO of this experimental genre?

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [6:30] August 2nd 2022

Location: [Floor 1 – Outside the City of Beginning]

The SAO Closed Beta has started the day before and a fifth of the 1000 Beta Testers are online at the moment to explore more of floor 1 of this mythical VRMMORPG: Sword Art Online. A black haired player known as Masaru is among one of the strongest so far in this game, and has made it the furthest, with him reaching a settlement called Horunka Village.

"Well...I reached this place yesterday, It's time I start training so I can get even farther" the player: Masaru says in a mellow tone.

Masaru departs Horunka to enter the nearby forest to beginning training solo, with it taking only a half hour of walking. He then starts his training with a single longsword against wasps, boars, and bears. However, he's getting in over his head when he attracts nine of each type of monster to fight against him.

"Oh...crap...I'm screwed aren't I...?" Masaru says in mild self-defeat, with him only being three hits from death, which would send him back to the Room of Resurrection in the City of Beginnings.

However, around now, a player in black with a skull mask suddenly rushes into the area and somehow manages to slay all of the wasps and boars very quickly with a rapier.

"You okay?" The player asks, with the mask hiding his or her true voice.

"I guess I am now, let's get rid of these bears, together." Masaru says, with a tiny smile at the fact he's getting his ass saved.

"Sure" The player says, slashing at four of the bears rather acrobatically, dodging a good deal of their attacks, leaving five bears for Masaru.

* * *

After the pair eliminate all of the monsters, this mysterious player approaches the black haired player, wearing a dark blue outfit with cyan trims.

"I owe you...thanks" Masaru says with a bow. "What's your name in this world?" Masaru asks the masked player.

"Solaris. Yours?" The player: Solaris states with a low tone because of the mask.

"Masaru. I guess...I got over my head, I'm trying to become the best there is. Also because I've never played an MMO before this...I guess I got over-eager" Masaru says sheepishly.

"Let me be blunt. If you're a novice to the MMO thing, NEVER go to dungeons and the like alone. It's one of the stupidest things you could ever do." Solaris says in an edgeless tone.

"Wow...couldn't you have softened that at all?" Masaru asks in a depressed tone.

"No, sometimes you must be blunt in your lessons. Take this crystal, you need healing. After this, I'll be accompanying you from here on. If you truly want to be stronger, you must have an ally you can trust." Solaris says, passing a red crystal to Masaru, who uses it immediately to recover his HP.

"You said this was your first MMO. Why would you choose to beta test an experimental MMO genre if this is your first? I would've gone to an already existent MMO if you wanted to play one." Solaris asks curiously.

"...Not a whole ton of choice, I've been locked in a shell since my parents died two years ago...my uncle got me into this game to break me out of this shell of mine. In the last two years, I have not made any friends at all, and my bonds with my old friends are gone aside from one friend who came to see me every Sunday. He used all of his business contacts to get me into beta testing and to acquire a NerveGear. He had to make deals that would last months if not years."

"_Oh...this guy has gone through hell...I feel so bad for him if its true. Shame I can't try comforting him, it'd be awkward for a guy to comfort another guy...not like a girl comforting a guy._" Solaris says secretly in his/her thoughts. "I see, how tragic, anyway, we ought to get going. If it's any condolence, I can sympathize with you" Solaris says emotionlessly.

"...Thank you Solaris" Masaru says, a tad nervously.

"Let's go. I can see promise in you, and I plan to cultivate that as much as possible" Solaris states quietly, and a little cryptically as well.

"...Talk about creepy, you're treating me like a peon or something" Masaru says in a mildly freaked out tone.

"Hardly, peons are considered disposable, I aim for the exact opposite, I aim to build you up to become irreplaceable, a warrior capable of fighting anything without fear." Solaris says emotionlessly.

"Um...thanks?" Masaru asks very confusedly, scratching the back of his head in mild fear, he has no idea if Solaris is trying to praise him or not.

"Let's go. I intend to clear this floor by the end of the week, and I need your assistance to do this. I know how MMOs work, they rarely make it where you can fight a boss solo. Let's team up to fight that boss, you and me" Solaris says, with a hidden smile.

"You seem rather eager to help a novice" Masaru asks curiously.

"I'm a good judge of character, I was watching your battle against those creatures. Also, your claim at novice status is true but...you hold potential, I intend to help it get unleashed." Solaris says, with an inaudible laugh.

"Wait, you saw that happen and you only chose to help when I was about to die?!" Masaru asks angrily at Solaris' apparent torture.

"If I helped you right away, I wouldn't have been able to fully judge your abilities. Sometimes you have to be harsh to do what is right." Solaris states without a single care in the world.

"Why you-" Masaru begins to growl, before getting interrupted by Solaris.

"Enough talk, party up with me, I want to get you to level 10 as quickly as possible. That'll pretty much give you invulnerability on this floor, save the dungeon." Solaris states nonchalantly.

"If you say so. Let's go" Masaru says, eager to fight again, still angry a little.

"Quite eager aren't you? I like that. I'll send you a party invite, I intend to make you fight most of these battles, but if things get bad, I'll come bail you out" Solaris says with a laugh.

"..._Bastard_" Masaru says to himself angrily, before speaking to Solaris "Very well, if that's what you wish" Masaru says, accepting the party invite, and when he looks at the party listing, something shocks him. "_Holy crap...this guy's level 12! How?! The strongest player should be around level 5 or 6 right now! I myself am only level 4, half way __to level 5. This guy must be a truly extreme power-gamer...That's the only thing I can think of..._" Masaru says to himself in utter surprise. "Hey Solaris"

"Yes? What is it?" Solaris asks with a small scowl.

"How did you acquire such an exotic outfit and weapon? This game just started yesterday afternoon." Masaru asks curiously, noticing the unique looking outfit and weapon Solaris is using, which has a rose red blade, a black guard with a silver glow all over the weapon.

"I used the SAO creation application. It's a side application, it allows you to design your own weapons, armors, and clothing, though the system is the one who assigns all of the specifics. I made this style last night."

"Wow, so you designed this yourself? Remarkable" Masaru says, mildly awestruck over the very elegant and extravagant outfit & weapon this Solaris made, it clearly must've took a good deal of time to make this design.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:00] August 2nd 2022

Masaru and Solaris have been training since they met up, Masaru has gone up three levels and has made it to level 7. The pair are in a grassland field outside the City of Beginnings hunting monsters, when something suddenly kills the monster Masaru was fighting.

"What the hell?! Someone stole my kill! Solaris, did you do it?" Masaru asks, clearly pissed off.

"No, I'm way over here! There's no way I could've stole your kill. Besides, why would I do so in the first place? I'm trying to train you, Masaru." Solaris says, angry that he or she's being called out for this.

"That, was my doing" A voice says, in the direction of a large rock formation about two and a half meters to the east.

"And who are you wise guy?" Masaru asks the brown haired player angrily.

"You can call me Pulse. _So_ sorry about stealing your kill" The player: Pulse says sarcastically, and with a laugh.

"Grr..." Masaru growls angrily, before being stopped by Solaris.

"Stand down, and...is that a bow?!" Solaris says coldly to Masaru, and in shock, noticing Pulse's weapon.

"Correct, I'm a very rare case, I'm the only beta tester allowed to utilize ranged weaponry like this. Hey...come out, quit being a scaredy cat" Pulse says calmly, and compassionately to someone nearby, confusing Masaru and Solaris for a moment, before noticing a female player behind this brown haired avatar.

"But..." The player says in a squeaky voice, surprising considering her brave looking avatar.

"No buts, introduce yourself. All one thousand of us are going to be working together to some degree, build a network you can depend on" Pulse says sternly, trying to encourage this person.

"...Okay...eto ne...My...My name is...Mikuya...yoroshikuonegaishimasu...ooo...I messed up..." the player: Mikuya says, seemingly about to cry.

"Mikuya, calm yourself down, and try again, okay?" Pulse says paternally, with a good connection being somewhat evident between the two.

"Do you two know each other in real life? You just seem way more comfortable than a duo that met in the game." Solaris asks curiously.

"Putting it simply, I'm acquaintances with Mikuya's parents in real life, they're pre-occupied elsewhere, so they asked me to watch over her while they're away." Pulse says nonchalantly.

Mikuya nervously nods in approval to this claim.

"Look, I will admit I should've have stolen your kill, I wanted to test out this weapon." Pulse says calmly, and apologetically at the same time.

"I...I guess I can let it slide, just this once. Mostly cause of that thing you said before 'All one thousand of us are going to be working together to some degree, build a network you can depend on'. That actually makes a lot of sense to me" Masaru says with a small sigh.

"Yeah, such a saying can be relatively inspiring." Solaris states in his or her usual tone, there's no way to tell if this person is a guy or girl.

"Hmm...you appear to be a very fascinating individual Solaris." Pulse says casually.

"Um...thanks?" Solaris asks in a mildly freaked out tone.

"I actually need to get going. I have business elsewhere. Could you keep an eye on Mikuya for me? I'd be very grateful if you could" Pulse says, begging somewhat.

"I...guess" Solaris says awkwardly, suddenly being made a babysitter of sorts, before seeing Pulse log out.

"So...Mikuya, want to come with us? We're going to be doing a little shopping in the city before setting out" Masaru asks in a calm tone.

Mikuya gives a nervous nod of approval.

"Let's get going, we have shopping to do, come along" Solaris says with a sigh.

"Solaris, don't scare the poor girl. Mikuya, you don't need to be scared of us, trust me" Masaru says, wanting to encourage her.

"O...Okay..." Mikuya says with a small, nervous smile.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:30] August 2nd 2022

The trio departs to the City of Beginnings and do some shopping for weapons, armor, and general goods, when they encounter a golden yellow haired player with violet colored clothing outside a inn, with the player apparently panicking over something.

"You okay? You seem worried about something" Masaru asks worriedly.

"...I am worried, I was supposed to meet a friend of mine here, but he took off somewhere and left me behind" The golden haired player says worriedly.

"What a jerk, how could he just abandon a girl like that, let alone a friend." Solaris says angrily.

"Yeah" Mikuya says angrily, exhibiting an emotion aside from fear for the first time since Solaris and Masaru met her.

"Um, if you wouldn't mind, could I accompany you since my friend took off? I'm relatively strong in this world, my level is 6. My name here is Elena." The player, named Elena asks a little quietly.

"Hm...up to you Solaris. You're the group leader after all." Masaru says with a sigh.

"...Realistically, a team of two aren't enough for a boss, four to five should be sufficient. Fine, you can come with us Elena. Let's get back to Horunka Village after we finish shopping."

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:00] August 2nd 2022

Solaris, Masaru, Pulse, Elena, and Mikuya are in Horunka Village with three other people as nearly everyone else is training in the fields, or in the City of Beginnings. These five have been training, with the team developing surprisingly strong symbiosis despite having only recently met; Solaris hasn't been too helpful in the battles, but he helps when things get bad, Pulse's bow has been a surprising element in the formation, with the last three being effective, but standard with a longsword, 2handed sword, and a curved blade respectively.

"I gotta say Elena, you're pretty good with that sword." Masaru says casually.

"Um...thanks?" Elena says.

"Okay look, let's take a half hour to relax and deal with any outstanding business in reality, afterward, we are to return to resume training. I intend to train you four to be able to handle the boss." Solaris says emotionlessly.

"Solaris, I have to ask, why are you not fighting as often as the rest of us? You wanted us to fight all of these monsters, yet you yourself only fought three times." Pulse asks curiously and a little angrily.

"I'm an observer, it's what I do. Besides, I'm at a level where training won't help me much. I'm not into grinding at this point. Count me out" Solaris says in his usual, emotionless tone.

"Speaking of which...Solaris, how the hell are you that strong? The strongest player ought to be level 6, yet your level is double that. Start explaining" Masaru confronts him angrily.

"Maybe he doesn't want to" A voice from outside the group says casually.

"Eh? Who are you?" Pulse asks curiously.

"Kirito. I can't stand it when people gang up on a single person" Kirito says quietly.

"Thanks I guess Kirito. Look, I will admit that I may be causing you all distress. But listen, even though I'm working as an observer, you saw that I'm willing to step in when things got bad, I saved Mikuya twice during battle, same with a good number of you." Solaris states with a small sigh.

"Hm...Solaris is right, he did save our asses when we were close to death." Masaru says calmly.

"True. Very well, Solaris, we'll trust in your leadership. Truthfully, you really do seem to know a lot about this game. Mind explaining that one?" Pulse asks.

"Putting it simply...I'm very familiar with the game, I was partly responsible for creating this VRMMORPG." Solaris says emotionlessly.

"Woah...in what way?" Masaru asks in surprise.

"Classified" Solaris says very quickly, shooting down any more talk about the matter.

"Hey Kirito, would you want to join our rag-tag group? We plan on fighting the boss soon." Pulse asks him.

"You're chasing the boss the first full day of the beta? Got to respect your enthusiasm. If you're truly going for it, count me in" Kirito says rather proudly.

"What's your level? I don't exactly want to bring someone incapable of heavy combat"

"I'm level 7, I've been trying to find the dungeon actually. I intended to take it on, even if I was alone."

"Well, if you want to travel with us, fine by me." Solaris says, not caring much apparently.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [15:00] August 2nd 2022

The group have returned to Horunka Village's inn, with the group having found a few rumors on the location, with them planning to meet up to determine which locations match based on their own knowledge of the field.

"What did you all find? I can write down the possibilities" Solaris states, opening a sort of note recording program.

"The rumor I found was in a valley far to the south, surrounded by mountains on three sides, near the village of Inhaven." Masaru states casually.

"Okay...next" Solaris states emotionlessly.

"There's a suspicion of it being far to the northeast, in the middle of the mountains." Elena says calmly.

"Next" Solaris says in the same tone.

"I...wasn't able to find anything...sorry" Mikuya says sadly, with Pulse nodding in sad approval.

"I got the same rumor as Elena, northeast of here." Kirito says casually.

"Okay...two out of three suggests to go northeast. The consensus is that way. Let's hire a few horses to get there quickly, if it gets too expensive, we can pool our Col." Solaris states, heading to the town stables, with the others in tow.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [18:00] August 2nd 2022

The group of six have made it half-way to a settlement on the edge of the mountain pass named Tolbana Town.

"Solaris, we need to leave, it's getting late, let's get to Tolbana tomorrow. We'll march to the dungeon immediately when we return" Pulse says with a small sigh.

"Fine, you all can head out if you wish. I'm going to keep working though. I have things to do." Solaris says with a degree of anger.

Kirito, Pulse, Mikuya, and Elena log out for the night, with Masaru staying behind a little while

"Hey Solaris...you alright? You seemed a little...bummed out about us leaving" Masaru asks curiously.

"You're ridiculous...you're imagining things" Solaris says angrily.

Masaru merely sighs and says "You're not being very convincing with that whole Tsundere act. I never thought I'd meet a male who's a Tsundere, I thought that trope was exclusive to girls."

"Did you stay behind to insult me? If so, I SO do not want to deal with that right now" Solaris says angrily.

"Solaris" Masaru says before sighing a tiny bit "Look...be honest here, it's just us two here."

"You really want me to be honest...fine. _I suppose I am bummed, I only really have four friends._" Solaris says bluntly, and mutters quietly.

"Um...Sorry, I didn't hear that last part." Masaru says nervously.

"I don't have many friends alright?! I'm withdrawn in reality...so I have trouble making friends..." Solaris whips out angrily at the start, and mutters nervously at the end.

"So...was making friends a reason why you joined SAO?" Masaru asks curiously.

"Of course not!" Solaris states angrily.

Masaru sighs in response, saying "I need to go, later" Masaru says, logging out.

* * *

Masaru logs out, leaving Solaris all by himself, who takes this chance to remove the helmet he was leaving, causing his appearance to alter dramatically, with this masked player's all black appearance to change to a female avatar with long green hair. The system gave this mask the ability to change the appearance of the wearer while its worn, though the form it takes is always the same, which is the masked male swordsman garbed in black. Solaris digitized the mask into her NerveGear the night before, so the item exists as an item in its internal storage as well as in the game, labeled 'M492'.

"Geez...it's such a pain to maintain that facade of a male..." Solaris says with a sigh in a casual female tone. "...That Masaru character really hit me where it hurts." Solaris says with a sigh. "I suppose I ought to go. I imagine Ophelia is waiting for me" Solaris says calmly, logging out for the night.

Solaris logs out and finds four people around her: Kazuma Takara, Ophelia Takara, Airi Takara, and Makoto Kazuki. Kazuma's currently thirteen, Ophelia being twelve and a half, Airi's 11, and Makoto's 16, two years older than Solaris is.

"Evening Karen, how was Sword Art Online?" Kazuma asks casually.

"Did you just come here to ask me about the game?" Solaris asks with a small laugh.

"Um...yes and no..." Ophelia says with a nervous laugh.

"We wanted to see you Karen-nee-chan" Airi chirped rather happily.

"Yeah, you've been in that game all day, it truly must be incredible to keep someone in a game that long. Makes me wish I could've gotten into beta testing myself" Makoto says casually, in a quiet tone.

"Hehe...I suppose the game is okay, but I'm not exactly obsessed about it. I'm just trying to help a few players among the thousand beta testers." Solaris says sheepishly.

"Karen, you're lying, If you spent an entire day inside a game, it has to be freaking bad-ass. If you wouldn't mind, think we could play a little?" Kazuma states proudly and asks with a small degree of puppy dog eyes.

"Urk...damn it Kazuma...Look, if you all can exercise restraint and try to keep to my personality, I'll let you play. The players I'm working with will suspect too much if your personality is too different from mine"

"Got it" The four say in unison.

"So...which of you four wants to go first?"

The group of four deliberate between themselves when they come to a decision

"Airi will go first, followed by myself, Kazuma, and Makoto. Though, if you want to step in at any time, let us know." Ophelia says calmly.

"Sure" Solaris states calmly.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [8:00] August 3rd 2022

Masaru, Pulse, Mikuya, Elena, Kirito, and Airi, taking the form of Solaris, are in proximity of the farm where they logged out the night before.

"Morning all of you" Airi says rather optimistically, with the tone of the masked warrior being what's used.

"Morning Solaris...you certainly seem more upbeat than before" Masaru says, mildly surprised.

"I admit I may have been a bit grumpy, but I was driven a tiny bit stir-crazy from all the grinding I went through the last two days" Airi chirps a little happily, trying to keep a calm tone, and she was given partial knowledge of what Solaris went through since she started playing.

"I can...imagine that happening. If you're ready, let's get going to Tolbana Town" Pulse says calmly.

Pulse, Kirito, Mikuya, and Elena depart, with Masaru consulting Solaris about the change in personality. "Solaris...you're acting really different from yesterday. What the hell?" He asks curiously.

"I don't know what you mean. I'm acting the same as I always do" Airi says calmly, losing a tiny bit of composure, from the fact this situation could be revealed.

"...It may not be fair to judge a person from a single day's experience, but you were never this...happy yesterday. I have a good feeling you're not who we think you are. Start talking" Masaru says, with remarkable perception.

"Uh...eto..." Airi says, glancing around the area nervously. "...Can you keep a secret?" Airi asks nervously.

"Sure. Shoot" Masaru says nonchalantly, placing his arms behind his back.

"Eto...to be honest, Solaris' true owner is...preoccupied elsewhere today. Because of that, I was asked to take command for a time. I hope you don't mind. Like I said...keep it secret" Airi stays, stuttering a tiny bit.

"Hmm, I could care less to be honest...just try to keep character to whoever Solaris truly is, and I'll look the other way" Masaru says with a sigh.

"Fair enough" Airi says casually.

The group converges at the area where they left the horses the night before, and set out to the northeast to reach Tolbana Town.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [8:00] September 6th 2022

This group: Solaris, Masaru, Pulse, Mikuya, and Elena have become some of the best players of the closed beta and the most experienced with them being at the level cap of 30 and made it to floor 8. Kirito took off to work solo around the time of floor 3.

"Well...the beta ends today at noon. We've spent a lot of time together in this game." Pulse says with a small sigh.

"Yeah...It'll be sad to leave you all behind" Elena says with a sigh.

"Are any of you going to get the official release? We can meet up then" Solaris states calmly.

"Oh hell ya, I am so playing this game when it's officially released. I have never had so much fun in my life" Masaru states happily.

"Yeah, you guys were always kind to me, I want to meet you again after this." Mikuya says with a smile.

"The official release should be within a month or two, let's make a pledge to meet up in the City of Beginnings' main plaza when the game is released." Solaris states calmly.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [8:30] November 6th 2022

The official release is out, with ten thousand players being in the game. Solaris is in the city plaza, waiting for her colleagues from the beta. Pulse and Mikuya are the first to show up, with Masaru and Elena showing up a half hour later.

"Good to see you again Masaru, Elena" Mikuya says happily.

"Likewise. I see you have your old bow Pulse, anyway...are we going to team up again like before?" Masaru asks.

"No can do sadly. You all were nice to us, but Mikuya and I need to work independently. I'm sorry, but this needs to be done, keep in touch with us though" Pulse says with a frown.

"Pulse and I both agreed to this, sorry." Mikuya says a little nervously.

"It's alright, let's exchange our contact info here. Best of luck in your future endeavors." Solaris states calmly, opening her menu to add this group to her friend list before Pulse and Mikuya depart.

"Sorry to say it, but I'm going to set out on my own as well. I feel comfortable enough doing this solo. Best of luck Masaru, Solaris" Elena says with a frown, walking away.

"So it's just me and you, eh Solaris?" Masaru asks in a slightly depressed tone.

"Sure, let's get going." Solaris says nonchalantly.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:00] November 6th 2022

Solaris and Masaru have made it to level 5 easily because of their knowledge of the beta, with Elena, Pulse, and Mikuya meeting up with this duo outside Horunka Village by chance before they get enveloped by a bluish light.

"Wha-What's happening?!" Elena asks in utter shock since this has never happened before.

"Hell if I know!" Masaru says in surprise.

They find themselves in the City of Beginnings with every other player in the game in this plaza.

"What's going on here...?" Mikuya asks in shock.

"It must've been a forced teleport...I did get a PM from Kirito a moment ago, he said the Log out button was gone. I checked myself...and it was" Solaris says with a sigh.

"...Why...do I get the feeling we're officially going to get screwed over...?" Pulse says rather coldly.

His fears become reality when a system announcement appears over the plaza and reveals itself as Akihiko Kayaba. After declaring that he has now imprisoned everyone inside and that the only way to leave is to clear all 100 floors of Castle Aincrad, massive outrage and panic is spreading throughout the players.

"_Damn you Kayaba! When I find you, I am going to end your god damn life myself!_" Masaru shouts in his mind very angrily, little surprise since someone is content to screw around with ten thousand lives.

"_No...No...It can't be true..._" Mikuya says to herself in despair over this situation, with Pulse noticing her despair.

When he reveals that if a player loses all of their HP, they will die in both the game, and in reality, causing further panic.

"_Kayaba, you crafty bastard...when my parents learn of this, your company is dead!_" Solaris states angrily, since her parents: Garrett and Clara helped make Sword Art Online; they will hear of this and file lawsuits against Argus for imprisonment.

After hearing of Kayaba giving an item in everyone's inventory, just about everyone opens their inventory and spawns a single mirror, which envelops everyone in the plaza in a bright light. When the light fades, the appearances of everyone nearby changed.

Solaris' appearance is revealed to be a female teenager with long green hair, with all traces of the masked warrior being gone. Masaru is revealed to be nearly identical to his previous form but with brown hair. Elena is revealed to have black hair, gold eyes in contrast to the golden haired avatar she used. Mikuya's blonde avatar is revealed to be a young girl at about age 13 or so with long purple hair. Pulse is shown to be an adult with brown hair and green eyes.

"...Solaris? Everyone...is that you?" Masaru asks in shock at everyone's different appearances.

"Masaru? That you?" Pulse asks in shock.

The group gasps in shock when noticing the new appearances of the people they worked together with for the beta. When the avatar Akihiko used vanished, Solaris drags Masaru and Elena with her, with Pulse and Mikuya following the trio.

"Okay, look, if what Kayaba said is true, if we want to survive, we'll need to work together. We worked very well together in the beta, so why don't we group up again?" Solaris states in a casual tone, with the male voice they were used to no longer being existent.

"Hmm...sorry Solaris, but I'm going to be busy protecting Mikuya, besides, I need to ensure my own survival first." Pulse says with a frown, walking away with Mikuya in tow.

"No can do sadly, I have a certain obligation to fulfill. So I won't be able to accompany you" Elena says sadly, running off in the direction of the plaza.

"I won't abandon ya Solaris. We've been through too much already, lead the way and I'll follow" Masaru says seriously.

"Masaru...thanks..." Solaris says, before walking outside the city with Masaru in tow.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [13:00] November 6th 2022

Number of deaths: 150

It's been a few hours since the Death Game began. Solaris and Masaru have reached Horunka Village and made it to level 5...though reports from the newly dubbed Monument of Life reports that one hundred and fifty players have already died to Kayaba's twisted experiment.

"..." Solaris says with a few sniffles.

"Solaris? You okay?" Masaru asks worriedly.

"...So many people are dying...this was supposed to be a fun game...not a warzone where your life is on the line..." Solaris says sadly, crying a little.

"...We can't change the past Sol...Let's play Kayaba's little game and clear Aincrad. If we work together, we'll be unstoppable." Masaru says confidently, trying to cheer up his colleague.

"...Masaru...thanks but...let's split ways here..." Solaris says sadly, walking to Horunka's Inn.

"Solaris..." Masaru says in a depressed tone, before buying another sword from the weapon shop and departing to work on his levels so he can survive.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [11:00] November 12th 2022

Number of Deaths: 680

Six days have passed and the number of casualties is escalating out of control. Masaru has made it to level 8 and is trying to protect as many people as possible. He has forsaken sleep during this five day period, having only ten hours in the last five days. His desire to protect as many people as possible is bordering obsession considering the large number of close skirts he has had with death. Pulse, Elena, Kirito, Mikuya, and many others are becoming the sole beacons of light in this impenetrable darkness. Solaris has recently managed to get out of her room to fight to help everyone, with her leading a group of twenty to take on a field boss that would give everyone involved the EXP needed to take on the floor boss. Masaru learns of this from Pulse, who happens to be in Horunka Village with Mikuya.

"Wait...what did you say?!" Masaru asks Pulse worriedly.

"Solaris took a team to fight that field boss: Rakshasa." Pulse says nonchalantly.

"Oh dear god...I need to go after her!" Masaru says, activating his Sprint skill.

"Wh-Why Masaru?" Pulse asks in shock, unsure if Masaru heard him, receiving a PM a moment later.

"_Pulse! That field boss killed two hundred and fifty people already! If I don't hurry, Solaris and her team will join them!_"

* * *

Masaru does not stop running and makes it to Solaris' location after a half hour, to find only her and three other people alive fighting Rakshasa.

"Masaru! What are you doing here?!" Solaris asks in shock, not expecting him to be here, before seeing the rest of her team slain, to her utter dismay.

"I'm here to get you out of here! You shouldn't have been this stupid!" Masaru shouts angrily.

After this lecture, Masaru draws his sword to fight Rakshasa since it's marching toward the both of them and manages to get it to the red bar when he gets slammed by the blunt end of its massive sword and is sent flying about thirty feet.

"AHHH!" Masaru shouts as he's sent flying.

"Masaru!" Solaris shouts in fear, running toward toward him. "Why did you do that?!"

"Ugh...I did it to save you. I can't let you die in this manner..." Masaru says in pain.

"Damn it...I wish I knew how this thing could be slain!" Solaris shouts in anger.

Solaris receives a PM from the system at this point, with Solaris' honest desperate plead to save her friend.

"_Do you seek the ability to become the ultimate support for the players? If you seek the power, accept my offer._"

"_Ultimate Support...? If I can be of help...I'll gladly accept_" Solaris says proudly, accepting the offer, since this situation is getting desperate.

"_Take the power of Sleuth, and use it to uncover the truth that is hidden from the eyes of mortals._"

Solaris glances at the field boss: Rakshasa and sees a menu full of statistics, strengths, and weaknesses.

"_The weaknesses of Rakshasa are its legs...after it's knocked down, a horizontal slash through its head will kill it. No wonder why it was unkillable...to my knowledge, no one tried such a combination..._" Solaris says quietly, analyzing the information on Rakshasa. "Masaru! Perform two vertical slashes on the legs, then go for the head!" Solaris shouts with pride and fear.

"What the hell? How is that going to help?!" Masaru asks in obvious disbelief.

"Do it!" Solaris states angrily.

"Damn it...fine!" Masaru growls, charging toward Rakshasa and following the suggestion Solaris voiced, performing two vertical slashes on the legs causing the creature to fall to its knees, with Masaru following suite with his most powerful vertical slash on Rakshasa's head, inflicting an automatic critical hit, causing the creature to perish.

"Way to go...Mas...aru" Solaris say, before collapsing from exhaustion.

"Solaris!" Masaru says in shock, rushing to her side.

Masaru runs toward Solaris to see if she's okay, since she collapsed so suddenly.

"Solaris, you okay?!"

"Ugh...don't shout...it's giving me a headache" Solaris says weakly, with her ears ringing.

"Right...I need to ask...how did you know how to fight that thing?" Masaru asks curiously.

"...Beats me..." Solaris says weakly.

"Come on...let's get back to Horunka. We both need rest..." Masaru says, shaking from the fact his adrenaline is leaving him.

* * *

"Masaru! Solaris! Thank god I made it in time" Pulse says with a small pant.

"Pulse! What are you doing here?" Masaru asks in surprise.

"When you took off on me, I got concerned, I gathered the players in Horunka and marched them here to help you all. Though...I saw Mikuya's parents go with you...what happened to them?" Pulse says quietly, and asks curiously.

Masaru and Solaris lower their heads, since the entire team Solaris went with got wiped out by Rakshasa.

"Mikuya...um..." Masaru says rather awkwardly.

"Mikuya...I'm...sorry but...they're no longer...around" Solaris says with a frown, looking down in shame, crying as well.

"My...parents...you...you...How could you?!" Mikuya says in despair, drawing her curved blade and charging toward Solaris, but is stopped because of an arrow in her foot paralyzing her, and dealing a degree of pain. "P-Pulse?! Why are you defending her?! She killed my parents!" Mikuya says, whipping out in anger.

"Mikuya...killing this girl will not bring your parents back..." Pulse says coldly, putting away his bow.

My parents deserve vengeance!" Mikuya says in anger, desperately trying to get free.

"Give up Mikuya, that arrow will keep you paralyzed until I decide to free you." Pulse says quietly.

"Look, they actually told me that they had a daughter trapped in this game, and I tried to tell them to stay behind for her sake, but they refused and gave me this crystal, and to give it to their daughter if I ever see her. Here..." Solaris says quietly, passing the crystal to Mikuya, who then activates it.

"**Mikuya...if you're watching this, we are no longer among the living. We're truly sorry about leaving you behind in this world, but understand that we were willing to sacrifice our lives in order to keep you safe. Mikuya...live on and become a far better person ****than the both of us. We've chosen to put our faith in a young girl named Solaris, as we've seen her skill at leading others during the beta and it is a remarkable gift for one so young. If we do perish in battle against Rakshasa, do not hold any anger toward her, since she herself repeatedly tried getting us to stay behind, but we forced the issue. Pulse, if you're watching this, we're leaving you in charge of Mikuya's safety and well-bringing. We know you can be trusted to keep her alive in this chaotic world. Goodbye Haruka...our beloved daughter...**"

"I...I..." Mikuya tries to say, before breaking down in tears.

"Mikuya, either way...I am truly sorry about all this..." Solaris says with a tear in her eye.

"You truly did try to tell them to go back?" Mikuya asks her with tears running down her face.

"Of course...they forced my hand and brought them with me at their solemn request...I never wanted to break up a family..." Solaris says seriously and sadly.

"I...see..." Mikuya says with a frown.

"Come along everyone, let's get back to Horunka Village." Pulse says, pulling out the arrow he shot at Mikuya to keep her paralyzed, and then keeping his Ebony Bow at hand as he leads the group back to town.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:30] November 12th 2022

Number of Deaths: 730

Masaru and Solaris are in a shared inn room to lower expenses since the amount of Col they both have is relatively low

"Solaris, are you alright? You've had me worried since we split ways back on the 5th..." Masaru asks worriedly.

"...I was only recently able to get over all the deaths from the first couple of days...And now I've caused the death of a large team..." Solaris says, crying somewhat.

"It's alright Sol, everything's gonna be fine" Masaru says, trying to console her. "Anyway...if you feel any better, could you explain how you know how to defeat Rakshasa?"

"...I don't know...it just...happened" Solaris says, laying down on her bed.

"Maybe I could find out, mind if I inspect your window?" Masaru says, possibly crossing the line as such things are very personal.

"Eh...sure" Solaris says, opening her menu, going to the setting tab and allowing Masaru to see her skills, items, and everything else.

After a minute of surveillance passes

"Hey...where'd you get that new skill?" Masaru asks curiously.

"New skill?" Solaris asks curiously, opening her skill list and noticing a new unique skill: Sleuth. "Strange...how'd I get this one?" Solaris says in mild shock having forgotten about the whole thing from the chaos, opening the skill description for this...Sleuth.

A menu appears in front of Solaris with the following text:

"**Sleuth: Sleuth allows you to fully analyze any monster or player's strengths, weaknesses, levels, and statistics, thus allowing you to uncover the perfect way to defeat any enemy. Be cautious, for the Unique Skill drains you of all your energy upon successful activation and analysis of the opponent.**"

"Wow...what a useful skill, but...the drawback is so nasty" Masaru says in surprise.

"Hmm...Masaru..." Solaris tries to say, though she's still pretty exhausted.

"Let me guess, you want me to keep this whole Unique Skill thing private huh?" Masaru says calmly.

Solaris nods in approval, not having the energy to talk much.

"Got it...I should get back to..." Masaru says, before collapsing.

"Masaru...damn it!" Solaris says in concern, trying to get out of bed but is still in bad shape from the fight with Rakshasa.

After ten minutes pass, the two of them are resting on their beds.

"Why were you exhausted Masaru?"

"Truth be told...I've barely slept since we split ways, been too focused on protecting people."

"That kind of attitude is gonna get you killed, you know that right?" Solaris says with a small sarcastic laugh

"Perhaps. But another friend of mine from the beta died while the two of us were apart...she made me swear that I'd protect everyone"

"I see, but look Masaru, if you truly want to protect people, you need to care for yourself first. Depriving yourself of sleep will hurt more than help..."

"Yeah...I know..."

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:00] November 25th 2022

Number of Deaths: 2000

Masaru's POV:

The last couple of weeks have been exhausting for everyone. The number of deaths have claimed a fifth of all ten thousand of the players. I knew a good amount of those poor bastards from the beta...I can't believe these people are gone for good. Kayaba has become one sadistic SOB for causing all of these deaths. As much as I want to end that bastard's life permanently, to make him suffer like the two thousand dead...Solaris has tempered my attitude and helped me realize how I'd be able to help people in a more efficient way. We've found the dungeon five days ago and have been surveying it as much as possible. Pulse and Mikuya have withdrawn from active service for a while now, because of Pulse's new responsibility to protect Mikuya from the dangers of this world. We haven't been able to find Kirito at all, but we asked Pulse and Mikuya to check the Monument of Life, and thankfully, he's not among the two thousand dead.

Solaris told me she doesn't plan on going through the dungeon. She told me that she plans to just focus her skills to guide players as safely as possible so we have battle-trained fighters ready and willing when we make it to floor 2. I'm fighting on my own in the dungeon, and have recently made it to level 12, the level Solaris was at in the beta on this floor when I met her.

* * *

"You there, I want to talk to you" I hear the voice say, not far from here, noticing a blue haired player.

"Why the hell would I want to talk with you?" I ask rather bluntly.

"My my, you're quite hostile, aren't you" The blue haired male says confidently.

"...I'm not always like this, I've lost too many freaking friends to this god damn game. I'm just pissed..." I say angrily, and a tiny bit apologetically.

"You're Masaru correct? My name's Diabel, I've been noticing your skills in battle, I plan on launching an expedition against the boss of this floor soon, I could really use your help" Diabel says calmly.

"What makes you think you have a chance? I've seen the capabilities of that boss before, it's nothing to laugh at." I say bluntly.

"So...you're a beta tester, interesting, I thought they all died." Diabel says laughingly, in an egotistic manner.

"Don't push me...I have no problem with slitting your damn throat right now." I say very angrily, drawing my Anneal Blade. The fact this guy is insulting the beta testers is pissing me off to unimaginable levels.

"Temper Temper." Diabel says with a small laugh. "But to all seriousness, I need all of the best players I can get. Joining me will ensure that we will clear this game and free everyone" Diabel says seriously.

"Fine...You seem to have a fire, though there is only one person I would even consider following without any questions asked. And she is not even around" I say quietly, referencing the girl I consider my friend: Solaris.

"Let's go." Diabel says to me, directing me to follow his group further in.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:00] December 2nd 2022

Because of Diabel's help, we've found the boss room for floor 1, and we're mobilized our best forty four players, though Solaris, Mikuya, and familiar faces I've come to know aren't here with us. However, I do recognize Kirito, Pulse, Diabel, and Kibaou among the crowd. But...god do I HATE Kibaou... The meeting doesn't start for another hour, so I meet up with Kirito before the meeting to try to catch up.

"Kirito, good to see you again"

"Masaru, I'm surprised to see you here. But then again, I should've seen it coming, with your knowledge of the Beta."

"Yeah. Diabel recruited me while I was in the dungeon. He was able to goad me into helping him"

"You know Masaru, you always seem to be following someone, do you ever act independently? I haven't seen you taking initiative once." Kirito asks curiously.

"I'm new to the whole MMO thing, besides I'm not a leader, I'm more suited to the 'follower' thing."

"Masaru? Is that you?"

"Huh?" Masaru says, looking around to find the voice.

He sees Elena running toward him and Kirito

"Masaru, it's been a long time"

"Elena, been a while. How have you been?" Masaru asks curiously.

"Awful as hell...I've gone through so much this month...I've seen two hundred people die in front of me..." Elena says in a depressed tone.

"Oh...I can relate Elena...why I've been able to survive when so many have died haunts me"

"I see. Hey Masaru, how are Pulse, Mikuya, and Solaris doing?"

"Solaris told me she didn't want to help much with this dungeon. And Pulse is helping Mikuya survive by getting her into this new guild called the Aincrad Liberation Force. I'm not anticipating either of them to assist us for a while."

"I see..." Elena says sadly.

"That's where you're wrong Masaru" Solaris says proudly, sneaking up on him. Kirito noticed Solaris but kept quiet since Solaris silently requested it, with Pulse walking calmly to the group.

"Wah! Solaris! Not cool!" Masaru shouts angrily, after jumping five feet.

"Beg to differ" Solaris says with a laugh.

"What the hell are you doing here anyway? You told me you had no intention of dealing with the dungeon on this floor."

Solaris sighs and says "A guy named Diabel goaded me into it. He saw me during a battle and he more or less conscripted me. He told me he was looking for someone good with strategies."

"I see, so Diabel got to you too. Oh well, I'm just glad there's another person I know here" Masaru says with a smile.

"Likewise. I need to meet with Diabel, he actually asked for you and Kirito alongside myself specifically to meet in the Surveyor Inn."

"What for?" Masaru and Kirito asks in unison.

"No clue, he only said it was mandatory."

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:30] December 2nd 2022

Solaris, Masaru, Kirito, and a male player with spiky sienna hair are in the inn at Diabel's request.

"Ah, good, you're all here. I wanted to inform you four of two things." Diabel says proudly.

"What would that be?" Kirito asks curiously.

"First. I've been watching your skills and power in battle, alongside your personalities. I have chosen you four to become field leaders, who will aid me in leading the frontliners. Masaru, your skill in battle and adaptability will be a great asset. Kirito, you're quick on your feet and possess strong power to back it up, you'll make a big difference helping us. Solaris, you're a bright young girl, and talented with strategies, you will be very helpful to us. Kibaou's strength will be helpful for us as well."

The four of them smile at this various praise

"Second, I've decided on assignments somewhat. I gathered forty players including you four, I'm dividing them into three different types: Groups A and B are Tanks, C through E will be Assault parties, while F and G are long range support."

"Solaris, I want you to lead group G and synchronize with group F. Kibaou will be leading Group E as rear support. I will be leading Group C. Masaru, I want you to lead group D. Kirito, feel free to join any group you wish."

"...You make it seem I'm not welcome..." Kirito says with a small sigh.

"I'm giving you freedom to choose which team to be in. Simple as that" Diabel says calmly.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [15:00] December 4th 2022

Solaris and her friends outside the boss chamber with all forty four members of this special raid group assembled by Diabel.

"Solaris, I'll leave you in charge of laying out the strategy to everyone" Diabel says to Solaris calmly.

"_Got it..._" Solaris mutters in nervousness, since she's never been good with speeches "Alright everyone, the plan is simple. A and B groups are to keep Illfang's attention on them, C and D groups are to focus on dealing as much damage on Illfang as possible. E Group is to concentrate on keeping any rear guard familiars from attacking Groups A through D. F and G groups will be providing long range support during this fight. Do not stray from your assigned roles, keep your HP from lowering beyond forty five percent, and we should be able to win without suffering any casualties!" Solaris states proudly, subconsciously gaining a great deal of pride.

After Solaris gave this speech, everyone of the group roared in happiness, with morale raising in all of them.

"_Woah...how did I pull off such an inspirational speech?!_"

"_Way to go Solaris. I knew you could do it_" Masaru whispers with a smile.

Solaris develops a mild blush and whispers "_T-Thanks..._"

"_Don't mention it. Someone has to keep you from looking like an idiot and mess up_" Masaru says with a laugh.

"_Grr..._" Solaris growls before stomping on his foot, hard.

"_OW! That was uncalled for! I was making a joke!_" Masaru growls with a hint of anger.

"_Not funny jackass_" Solaris growls angrily, clearly pissed off.

"_Lesson learned...don't joke around you..._"

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [18:00] December 4th 2022

After three strenuous hours of fighting Illfang, they have succeeded, but they lost Diabel, our leader in this fight. They're trying to lick our wounds in this fight when Kibaou, the leader of Group E starts getting pissed off at Kirito because of his status as a beta tester of SAO. A good number of the players here are beginning to label him with a portmanteau: Beater.

"You hid the fact Illfang used a No-Dachi didn't you?!" Kibaou shouts angrily at Kirito.

"Back off you bastard! You leave my friend alone!" Masaru shouts angrily, shoving Kibaou three feet.

"You're friends with this beater?" Kibaou demands angrily.

"So I am, you slimy bastard, and trust me when I say Diabel told me in strict confidence that if he perished, _I_ would take command of the clearers. If any, ANY, of you have problems with working with three beaters, LEAVE NOW. I will not allow anyone who will not accept my orders to be among the frontliners." Solaris states very angrily.

"..." A few of the clearers growl in response.

"Good, now fall in line! I will not allow insubordination, from ANYONE." Solaris states angrily.

Masaru, Elena, and Pulse approach Solaris a little fearfully over her change of personality.

"Hey...Sol, you sure this is alright? You are fanning a lot of heavy flames here..." Pulse asks worriedly.

"I don't care. I will have order among the frontliners, if we're going to clear this game, we must have rigid discipline, from EVERYONE." Solaris states emotionlessly.

"...You're starting to scare me Solaris" Masaru utters nervously.

"You know, I think I like this 'new' Solaris. She's serious and not afraid to put her foot down. She's someone we need at our core. Although Diabel will be missed, we must change with the times, and perhaps Solaris is who we need." Elena says calmly, with a mild smile.

"...Maybe you're right Elena. Solaris, this new attitude of yours terrifies me to no end, but I'll follow your orders. You have my support" Pulse says with a small bow.

"I won't go against our friendship and try to back-stab you Sol. I am your friend, and I will stand by your side unless I am forced into a situation where my life is at risk" Masaru states calmly, with Solaris staring at him with a single eye, seemingly saying 'Um...think about our environment' "...Wait...let me rephrase that. I'm speaking of where you're intentionally sending me to a place where I'll die no matter what."

"Good. Masaru, I'm making you my 2nd in command." Solaris states emotionlessly, going up to floor 2.

"mmm...even if it gave me a promotion...I'm nervous of this 'new' Solaris..."

"Masaru, let me offer a piece of advice: Them's the breaks kid. Look, stick with Solaris, she may very well be who we need to survive in this world. She's your friend so she'll show you leniency."

"_I...pray so..._" Masaru mutters under his breath, before departing to floor 2.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [18:45] December 4th 2022

Masaru found Solaris in a nearby inn, so they check into a single, large room again.

"Hey...Sol, I wanted to ask about-" Masaru tries to ask before being lightly tackled by Solaris out sadness. "Solaris?!" Masaru is surprised that Solaris suddenly did that.

"...That speech and battle terrified me to no end, especially with how I was forced to act at the end...the only time I was that scared in this 'game' was during Rakshasa..."

"Solaris..." Masaru says sadly, accepting the light embrace with her fear being the driving emotion.

"...I know I'm supposed to appear strong... but at times, I need to let loose like this..." Solaris says while crying a little.

"Go ahead, I certainly have no intention of judging you harshly just because of this. You'd need to outright abandon me to death for me to hate you...which would become a moot point since I wouldn't be around to hate you" Masaru says seriously, with a tiny joke at the end.

"...Thank you...I could only imagine people would abandon the girl in cases like this..." Solaris says with a few sniffles.

"I would never do such a thing. Trust me when I say that people who would do that is among the lowest of scum" Masaru says solemnly.

"...Masaru...arigatou gozaimasu..." Solaris says, still crying onto Masaru's shoulders.

"Don't mention it, friends should always stick together. I consider you the best friend I've ever met through this world. I will make sure you and I survive, that...is a promise"

"M...Masaru...Arigatou...this...this is the first time I've been able to let out all this sadness...I have not cried once since the time with Rakshasa"

"You...you've been keeping in all that pain and sadness?" Masaru asks worriedly.

"Yeah...I always had to appear strong in front of everyone and I seldom had private time, so I was never able to let go..."

"Solaris, let's make a deal. If you ever need a shoulder to cry on or anything, send me a call and I'll come help you. Friends should never have to suffer alone." Masaru says calmly, lightly rubbing Solaris' head.

"...Okay...deal..." Solaris says quietly, before stepping back somewhat and wiping her eyes. "Thanks Masaru" Solaris says, trying to be optimistic now. "Eh...d-don't think I'm...into you or anything" Solaris says, suddenly becoming self-conscious of what she just did, panicking somewhat.

"Chill, look...don't take this the wrong way but I'm not looking for a girlfriend or...ingame wife. At the bare minimal, I simply want to be friends."

"Oh thank goodness..." Solaris says, sighing in relief, before laying down in her bed.

"You're not mad? I thought girls would be angry or something from my response." Masaru says in surprise, going to lay down in his bed.

"I won't speak for _all_ girls, but I think it's typically when _they_ ask a guy out and he turns them down that they get mad with that response." Solaris says, somewhat unsure of herself, having never thought of it before.

"Oh...but you sound...uncertain" Masaru asks, hoping he doesn't annoy her.

"Yeah...I've never contemplated it before..." Solaris says quietly.

"Hehe...so we're both clueless on how girls act?" Masaru asks, half-jokingly.

"Hehe...more or less, girls are complex, even to other girls. Though the same can be said of guys." Solaris says laughingly.

"Heh, true"


	2. Chapter 1: Descent into Aincrad

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the original creator of the SAO universe; credits also to the creators and contributors to the Code Lyoko series and related works._

* * *

Things start out rather usual in the world of Code Lyoko. The sentient AI program, XANA, has hatched another plan to try to defeat the 'Lyoko Warriors', which is made up of 3 young teenagers called Odd Della-Robbia, Yumi Ishiyama, and Ulrich Stern. The group leader, Jeremie Belpois, is sending the group to the virtual world known simply as Lyoko to escort another AI program called Aelita to one of Lyoko's 'Way towers' which will enable her to stop XANA's current plan. Jeremie, Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich head to the factory where the virtual world's server exists, and begin the procedure to enter the virtual world, Lyoko.

Jeremie sets himself up at the computer while Ulrich and the others enter the scanners to enter the virtual world, which lay at least three floors below the room where Jeremie is. Once they enter the scanners and face the way they entered, the doors close and the start-up begins.

"Scanner: Odd," Jeremie says over an unseen speaker. "Scanner: Yumi. Scanner: Ulrich." An effect similar to scanning an object from top to bottom and repeating is done inside the scanners to initiate the scanning. "Transfer: Odd. Transfer: Yumi. Transfer: Ulrich."

"Virtualization!"

The procedure is finished at this point with all three of them facing up and being enveloped by a bright light, and they enter the world of Lyoko.

Odd and Yumi arrive in Lyoko about three feet above the ground in an area known simply as the Mountain Region. Ten seconds pass while Lyoko almost instantaneously assembles their avatar body pixel by pixel, and when that's done, they touch down on the ground and look around the environments, trying to find Aelita.

Odd, whose appearance is a large purple cat notices that Ulrich isn't around, same with Yumi, whose appearance resembles a Geisha, with them both looking around trying to find out what happened to Ulrich.

"Hey Jeremie, where's Ulrich? He isn't here." Odd says in a worried tone. They don't have their front-line fighter, leaving two ranged fighters on their own.

"That's bizarre... Let me have a look." Jeremie says, trying to figure out what happened to Ulrich. "While I try to find out what happened to him, go help Aelita, she's twenty-five yards to your west. Hurry, XANA's monsters are in pursuit!"

"Understood Jeremie. Let's hurry, Odd." Yumi says with a worried tone.

"Got it, we can't have her dying on us now." Odd says with a laugh.

Yumi and Odd rush to go help Aelita and protect her from XANA's monsters. However, as soon as they reach Aelita, the Krabs that were nearby begin losing their sense of cohesiveness and actually begin firing upon and destroying themselves, same with the Hornets.

"Uh... Jeremie, what's going on here? XANA's monsters are fighting each other!" Yumi asks, obviously freaked out.

"I don't know. XANA should have kept them unified, which must mean XANA must have vanished as well, so they don't know what to do." Jeremie says, still trying to find out what happened to Ulrich.

After a minute passes, Jeremie discovers what happened, also seeing that XANA's control of the tower in the region has ceased.

"I have no idea how it was possible, but an outside force took both Ulrich and XANA. They're both gone."

"Are we going to be able to get Ulrich back?" Odd asks worriedly.

"I'll need to find out where Ulrich went first. After I find him, I'll begin to come up with something to bring him back."

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [13:00] January 15th 2023

Location: [Floor 24 – Forest of Doubt]

This forest has not been explored by any players yet, but rumor has it that this forest is the only way to reach this floor's dungeon. A scouting team will be assembled in two days by the field leaders: Solaris, Masaru, Kirito, and Kibaou to thoroughly explore the forest and reach the end.

The forest itself has some sort of ability to make those within question themselves and doubt that they are on the right path making it difficult to navigate and frightening anyone who would dare go within it. Meanwhile, Ulrich wakes up in the Forest of Doubt, as it is dubbed by the local NPCs on the floor, and finds himself a little disoriented from the scan he just recently experienced.

"Ugh... What happened?" Ulrich asks himself, as he is waking up from the transfer from Earth to... wherever this is. He looks around and notices he's in a forest, and that Odd and Yumi are no where nearby.

"Where am I? Was I sent to the Forest Sector by mistake? And where's Odd and Yumi?" Ulrich says, in mild disorientation and shock.

Ulrich takes his time in thoroughly inspecting his surroundings. He walks towards a tree and finds, to his mild surprise, that unlike its Lyoko counterpart, it's real.

"Am I somehow back on Earth? Odd! Yumi! Where are you!?" Ulrich says, losing his wits a little bit after apparently entered some other world or being returned somehow to his reality.

He then calms himself down somewhat and tries contacting Jeremie to see if he can get any information on this forest.

"Jeremie, where am I? And where are the others?" However, Ulrich is unable to get a reply from Jeremie and can only hear the sounds of the forest.

"Wonderful..." Ulrich states a little anxiously, since he can't seem to contact Odd, Yumi, and Jeremie. "I guess I'm on my own... I should try finding some sort of civilization, if there is any. I need information on this place." Ulrich begins walking around about a half hour and finds a lake, which tempts him to take a small drink, since he hasn't had a chance to drink any water in hours.

"I hope I have a canteen or something on me, I need some water. I suppose worst case is that I just use my hands." Ulrich says quietly.

He approaches the lake to get a drink of water and when he sees his reflection, he finds that it is identical to his real life appearance and not his Lyoko avatar. This shocking discovery surprises Ulrich and he falls back slightly.

"This clearly is not Lyoko, because this is my real life body." Ulrich says, after grabbing a nearby stick and poking his arm with it as a test, feeling a tiny degree of pain.

"Correct, this is the world of Aincrad," a female voice says, surprising Ulrich. He turns around to find a little girl with long dark hair and bright black eyes wearing a white one-piece dress watching him with a slightly happy expression.

"Were you the one who was talking to me?" Ulrich asks the little girl, unsettled by her sudden appearance.

"Yes. I am MHCP001, a mental health counseling AI. Cardinal has noticed you entering Aincrad through unorthodox methods. I was sent to determine if you are a danger to the players in this game, and the game itself." The girl says calmly, which is quite surprising to him.

"Okay, um, MHCP..." He shakes his head after saying this part. "Look, no offense, but is there a better name I can use than that? That name is challenging to say in conversation," Ulrich says trying to figure out what's happening. "_Wait...did she say AI?"_ Ulrich asks himself. "_After everything XANA's done, I should hate AIs, but... I can't sense any evil intent in this girl. Maybe I should give her the benefit of a doubt."_

"My code name is Yui. Will that suffice?" The girl, Yui, asks calmly, trying to make him at least slightly comfortable.

"Yeah, that'll work, I guess." He scratches the back of his head nervously. "Anyway, you said this world's name is Aincrad? How did I get here?" Ulrich asks, finally calming down a little bit.

"I do not know how you entered Sword Art Online, and neither does Cardinal. I was sent to determine if you were a threat to the game. Upon investigation, I do not find you as such, even though you did not enter this world through a NerveGear." Yui says, blinking up at him curiously.

The unusual terms that Yui mentions: Sword Art Online, Cardinal, and NerveGear are confusing Ulrich even more.

"So... I'm in a world called... 'Sword Art Online?' Or is it 'Aincrad'?" Ulrich asks with him being mildly freaked out. Since he's in the Forest of Doubt, its effects are kicking in, with the doubt being created in this forest amplifying his emotions.

"You are in a Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, or VRMMORPG for short," Yui explains. "This game is called Sword Art Online, and this game's world is called Aincrad. Although, this might be a virtual reality in terms of environment, the rules are very life-like, if you die here in Aincrad, you will die in reality. The amount HP, or Health Points, you currently have is in the upper left of your field of vision." Yui says slowly, in case Ulrich is one of the people who doesn't play a lot of games. Seeing Ulrich truly begin to panic after hearing the 'if you die here in Aincrad, you will die in reality' part, she assumes so.

"W-Wait...I can die...for real in this place? How am I able to die for real if this is a game?!" Ulrich asks in a freaked out tone.

"The creator of this game made it so that if any player that loses all of his or her HP, he or she will die in the game and in reality. The NerveGear would instantly fry the brain of the deceased at that point, causing instantaneous death. However, since you are an unusual case when you entered this world, it is unknown if you would suffer the same fate, but I would highly recommend that you do not experiment that variable" Yui says calmly and a little sadly as well, with Ulrich looking outright flabbergasted at 'The NerveGear would instantly fry the brain of the deceased'

Ulrich takes a look in the upper left and sees that his HP is at a base of 250.

"I see... And, according to this, I only have 250 HP" Ulrich asks.

"Yes, you have that much HP because you have not set your stats yet. I can offer a suggestion if you wish," Yui says in a compassionate tone. It is surprising for an Artificial Intelligence program, from Ulrich's point of view.

"I'd appreciate it. I'll need all the help I can get if I want to survive in this world." Ulrich sighs, frowning at the forest around them.

"Very well, let me teach you one of the most essential things in this world. Follow my movements exactly," Yui says, with Ulrich simply nodding in response. "Raise your right hand, connect your thumb and index finger, do a downward swipe and you can access your 'system menu' by doing so."

Yui performs this herself to give an example of what to do, doing so in case Ulrich learns best through demonstration. Ulrich does as requested and opens what appears to be a list. He first opens the 'inventory' tab and finds that he has only a katana, and around 50,000 of something called Col.

"I only have a single katana and something called Col. Are all the players in this game supposed to have this little? I don't even have any clothing aside from what I'm wearing." Ulrich asks, mildly angry, as he was beginning to become a little frustrated. He has no clue of what was going on or why he was here. Right now, he'd rather face a Krab blind, barehanded, and alone than deal with this situation. He shakes his head in mild anger and looks over at Yui, who is frowning as well.

"Bizarre. Let me examine your character data," Yui says and opens a menu of her own, presumably to scan Ulrich's character data.

"The equipment you originally held heavily conflicted with Cardinal's programs, so they had to be removed. Allow me to grant you duplicates." Yui sadly informs him, after discovering the issue Ulrich is dealing with.

Yui creates a chest that spawns in front of the pair and motions for Ulrich to open it. When he does, he finds a set of armor simply labeled as chainmail, which he decides to equip in case one of the sounds he hears in the distance is hostile. He also finds five red crystals, three green crystals, and a single blue crystal. He also finds a small sphere of some sort that was colored tan throughout, with a green glow near the bottom and a violet color on the top.

"Let me explain what those do. The red crystals heal your health points when used, green crystals are capable of treating any status ailment that exists in this game, the sky blue crystal allows you to teleport to any city you have knowledge of. Before you ask, I am not allowed to give such knowledge. Sadly, my going to such lengths with this chest has already pushed the limit of what Cardinal is allowing. I just hope the consequences will be minor..." Yui says with a frown, looking distressed.

"Anyway, teleports can't even work in this forest because of its unique attributes. That last item you got is called a Mirage Sphere, it allows you to record mapping data. Cardinal has given you a special allowance with this single Mirage Sphere because of the many restrictions you were burdened with, normally, you can only use a single Mirage Sphere for an area, but you can record any map with this Mirage Sphere and store that data in a special server." Yui says instructively.

* * *

Yui took about twenty minutes or so to explain many of the delicate parts of the game's features and systems to Ulrich when he finished equipping his items. The entire time, Ulrich was nervously glancing all over the place, straining his senses to thoroughly listen to Yui's speech and stay alert to his surroundings simultaneously.

Yui notices this and says, "If you're nervous about nearby monsters, don't be. My presence here is creating a small barrier which makes us both invisible to them. As long as I'm here, they will not attack you." she says calmly with a small smile, assuming that's why he's nervous.

"Now, you need to set your stats. I notice your build seems to favor balance so allow me to suggest this arrangement." Yui pulls up a list that says 'Strength: 19, Constitution: 18, Dexterity: 18, Intelligence: 18, Charisma: 18, Willpower: 18, Perception: 18' on his screen.

"I'll go with this list, though I'm going to exchange the extra point in Strength with Constitution," Ulrich says. "Is that alright?" Yui blinks, then smiles helpfully.

"As you wish. Now, set your stats in your character window. They will change eventually, since Cardinal will be setting your level to 35, and you will have access to 8 skill slots, though you will only be able to choose 5 skills; your abilities from wherever you came from crossed over and have been approved." Yui says.

"Are you referring to my Super-Sprint, Triplicate, and Triangulate?" Ulrich says quietly with a hopeful smile. He would like at least something familiar in this strange new world.

"I presume so, yes. Now that I've helped you acclimate to SAO, I must depart, as I am forbidden contact with players. Since I gave you these instructions, you're now officially a player of SAO." Yui says with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Wait, will I be able to see you again?" Ulrich asks in concern, even if this girl is an artificial intelligence, she still acted like a sweet young girl. He's feeling guilty that he may never get to see this girl after she went to such lengths to help him.

"I have my doubts..." Yui says sadly before fading away in a small pillar of light.

"Goodbye... Yui," Ulrich frowns. He feels a little sorry for her, which surprises him, because of his bad memory with AIs. He looks back down at his menu and goes over his list of skills.

* * *

_Super-sprint – 500/1000_

_Triangulate – 500/1000_

_Triplicate – 350/1000_

_Katana – 800/1000_

_Extended Weight Limit – 300/1000_

_Night Vision – 500/1000_

_Tracking – 600/1000_

_Battle Healing – 400/1000_

* * *

As soon as Ulrich closes his menu, he hears a twig snap to his left. He snaps his head towards the sound to see a monster with long tusks that come from its mouth emerge from the depths of the forest. It comes charging at him, its roar filled with hatred. Ulrich glares at the beast and leans back into his battle stance, drawing his katana.

"I will not let myself be beat by this. I will return to Jeremie and my friends. I _will_ survive this 'Aincrad' no matter what!"

Ulrich then lets out a battle cry and charges at the monster known as [Savage Forest Boar]. Ulrich defeats this Boar rather easily, surprisingly, and sheathes his katana right when the monster exploded into pixels.

"So...creatures in this world explode into pixels when defeated... Interesting... I'd better keep my katana at hand, and try to find a way out of this forest and find a way to return to my friends." Ulrich says, beginning his march in the southeast direction, activating his Mirage Sphere and keeping it in his hand while walking around.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

**The new skills that Ulrich has: Triangulate, Triplicate, and Super-sprint work in these ways.**

**Triangulate allows Ulrich to move very quickly to form a triangle shape around an enemy, it hides him behind 3 clones which allow Ulrich to attack with the element of surprise.**

**Triplicate allow Ulrich to create 2 clones of himself to assist him in battle, but he must be at max health before doing so and it leaves him with only a 1/3 of his max HP.**

**Super-Sprint is essentially a rename of the sprint skill, but there's no cooldown and allows him to sprint much faster, however, he only keep it going for 30 seconds max before he completely runs out of stamina.**

**This may be redundant, but I'll leave this particular note for new readers, also, this is the first chapter of the new Reset Code: Aincrad story, I hope you enjoy it. (I'm not very good with titles, but I figure that since reset is the same as do-over, and the fact I'm remaking this story, it works, for the most part...if you don't like the title...please just deal with it, because I have very little creativity when it comes to names of this degree.**


	3. Chapter 2: A Fateful Encounter

Field Leaders: Solaris and Masaru are exploring the Forest of Doubt when they encounter most unusual but convenient of miracles: A way through the misleading forest to the dungeon

Rated: AU Fiction T

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the original creator of the SAO universe; credits also to the creators and contributors to the Code Lyoko series and related works._

I need to thank Copperpelt for beta reading this chapter.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [6:00] January 16th 2023

Location: [Floor 24 – Forest of Doubt]

Solaris, Masaru, Kirito POV:

Solaris, Masaru, and Kirito are leading a team into the Forest of Doubt a day ahead of schedule with a small unit of warriors, while Kibaou is busy preparing the rest of the front-liners for the upcoming boss fight. The mythic legend of the Forest is slightly scaring Masaru, and a few other members of the team: Haruka, Miyake, and Pulse.

"Solaris...are you sure about this? What if the Forest isn't the way to the dungeon? What if it's some location we just haven't searched yet?" Masaru asks worriedly, not wanting to be here, for he seemed to be afraid of the 'Forest of Doubt'.

"Masaru, we've searched every nook and cranny of this floor except here. This Forest _has_ to lead to the dungeon. Although...I will admit the extreme darkness of this floor has made investigation tough…." Solaris says seriously with a small sigh. She REALLY hates having to deal with this unyielding darkness. "Wait...are you perhaps...scared, Masaru?" Solaris continues, sensing the fear in him and sneers slightly.

"I...I am not scared! I'm trying to brace myself in case the forest is not what we hope it is!" Masaru says, lashing out in anger and putting up a front.

"Okay. Then, you get to lead us, Mr. Brave" Solaris says mockingly, still sneering in the face of her colleague's fear. "Everyone, keep your minds focused on our goal to reach the dungeon. As long as we stay together and keep ourselves focused, we'll have nothing to fear from this place." Solaris says seriously to the ten others before beginning her march.

The team departs to explore the Forest and find the exit that leads to the dungeon; if it did, in fact, actually lead to the dungeon.

"Actually, Solaris, have you heard the new rumor about this forest?" Kirito asks calmly.

"New rumor, you say?" Solaris asks curiously.

"Yeah, apparently a lone swordsman resides in this forest and is the reason why so many people have vanished" Kirito states, his tone surprisingly blasé.

"Interesting...I wonder if this swordsman is a quest giver, or perhaps a monster...Either way, we should keep our eyes open" Solaris says, her tone holding both cautious and fascinated anticipation at the uncertainty ahead.

* * *

Ulrich's POV:

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:00] January 16th 2023

"I've been here for nearly a day and a half now, and I haven't been able to find food anywhere...No berries from bushes….No fruit from trees...My stomach will not stop rumbling, and it's keeping me from sleeping, as well...I need to get some food to eat..." Ulrich says, surprisingly calm, but angry as well. He's been wandering aimlessly in this forest ever since he arrived, and has been unable to find a way out. "Even though I have this Mirage Sphere, there are so many routes I've traveled, and yet so many I haven't gone through yet. I'm fearful that I'll never get out of here...What a pathetic fate, dying in the forest you wake up in..." Ulrich says bitterly with a depressed sigh. "I've tried hunting these monsters to get food but...all I'm getting is raw meat, and I have no way to cook it." Ulrich moans as he says this, his stomach rumbling like a starving tiger.

Ulrich continues wandering through the Forest, desperately trying to find routes that he has yet to take in order to get out of this damn forest. He then hears the sound of movement nearby. However, he has no way of knowing whether it's human or monster unless he blew cover to find out, and he'd prefer not to do that, because if it was a monster, he stood no chance against it in his weakened state. Instead, Ulrich opts to climb a nearby tree to use as cover, as well as to get an aerial view of whatever was making the sound.

* * *

Solaris, Masaru, Kirito POV:

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:00] January 16th 2023

"Solaris, we've been wandering through this damn forest for hours! Are we even making progress?!" Masaru asks angrily, becoming agitated over the seemingly endless trek through this forest.

"I will admit that this Forest is more complex than I anticipated, but we'll get through eventually" Solaris says reassuringly in order to keep the team's morale high.

"You both make good points here, but remember that we are field leaders. We do the difficult work so the others can proceed safely, and we've had a long time to understand that. So, we can't complain now" Kirito states, the ire in his voice rising from having to hear the constant whining.

"...Very well…..Let's keep going everyone" Masaru says with a heavy sigh, but makes sure he sounds confident toward the unit.

"Wait...I feel uneasy all of a sudden...It's almost like…..We're being watched by something…" Solaris says, her voice hesitant, as if she's unsure of herself. She then looks up and spots a figure in a tree. "Up there!"

"That must be a demi-human!" Masaru shouts. He hated how the demi-humans look similar to players; this confusion has caused the death of at least two hundred other players.

Ulrich looks down weakly to see the ten players taking up combat stances, when he notices someone with brown hair aiming their bow up to the sky...No, directly at him.

"Crap...They noticed me, and in my current state, I won't be able to stand a chance against them...," Ulrich says to himself nervously. The one with the brown hair, Pulse, sent an arrow flying through the air and broke the branch that Ulrich was perched on. He fell and did land on his feet, albeit, not gracefully at all.

Quickly regaining his composure, Ulrich draws his katana and blocks all of the attacks coming from the team, and with Pulse attacking him with a bow, defending was even tougher for him in his current condition. The starvation that Ulrich was suffering from made his defensive blocks weak when compared to the fierce brutality of the attacks he was fighting against. Solaris became a little curious about why this 'demi-human's' only intent being defense and survival, rather than combat.

"This is odd...Demi-human AI doesn't work like this...They aren't the defensive types...They go all out..." Solaris says to herself in mild confusion, so she activates her unique skill, Sleuth, in order to get information on this enemy. The way she works this skill is by lightly tapping the right side of her head to engage a sort of visor, which scans enemies for their strengths and weaknesses, and when it comes to players, it gives their level and skills.

'**Humanoid player, Level 30: possesses the skills Tracking, Battle Healing, Katana, Night Vision, Extended Weight Limit, and three unique skills.'** As a result of this discovery and just as Masaru's about to land a successful attack on this player, Solaris shouts, "All of you, stand down!" The team comes to an abrupt stop.

"Solaris, what's wrong with you?! I was just about to kill him!" Masaru shouts angrily. Solaris slowly approaches after grabbing her spear, with mild assistance from Elena, another member of the group, due to the fact that a large degree of her energy was drained using Sleuth.

"This is no monster, Masaru. I used my Sleuth skill to analyze this guy and he's an actual player. Besides, demi-human AI isn't defensive; they always go all out with combat" Solaris says matter-of-factly.

"Now that you mention it...It makes sense" Masaru says, realizing that Solaris is right, especially since he's fought demi-humans before.

"What...are you...all talking...about?" Ulrich asks weakly, his stomach rumbling loudly, making nearly everyone chuckle under their breath.

"Hahaha, I'd consider that proof enough that he's human. You hungry, new guy?" Solaris asks with a smile.

"...Don't mock me...and...Yeah, a bit..." Ulrich admits reluctantly, his stomach taking control near the end.

"Okay, look, I don't have much, but I do have some food you can have" Solaris tells him through her smile as she looks through her inventory, spawning a sandwich she bought a while back in town. In a simple gesture of kindness, she passes it to Ulrich.

* * *

Ulrich looks toward the group of ten, still a little cautious after the fact they all tried to _kill_ him a minute ago, and slowly takes the sandwich. But the moment it touches his lips, he devours it like an animal, much to the horror of everyone around him.

"Wow...You really must've really been hungry...You're eating like a starved wolf..." Solaris says, awestruck.

"Tell me about it..." Masaru adds in, awestruck, as well.

After a minute passes, and Ulrich has finished eating, he begins talking to the group.

"Thanks...I've been wandering through this damn forest for a day and a half now, and I've been trying to find a way out of it. I was hoping this Mirage Sphere would've helped, but the only thing even close to civilization that I found was a tower swarming with monsters...No way am I risking my life again without finding some sort of actual human civilization" Ulrich states calmly, smiling at the fact his stomach's full for now, though he sighs at the end.

"You're welcome, and you said you encountered a tower in this forest? That must be the dungeon for this floor. Is it possible that you can lead us there?" Solaris asks eagerly. "_Wait...What he said at the end….Something about finding some sort of actual human civilization? What the hell does that mean...Is he...Does he have any idea of what we've gone through to get here? In fact, he doesn't look familiar to me...Who is this guy...?_" Solaris asks herself curiously.

"Hmm? Oh, my name is Ulrich. Ulrich Stern. And sure, I'll lead you to that tower. It's the least I can do to repay you guys for the food. I just need to activate the Mirage Sphere again." Ulrich was a little confused as to why Solaris suddenly slowed down near the end of her speech, but figured it out after a minute, with him then grabbing the Mirage sphere that he placed in his pocket before he climbed the tree.

"Um...Are you really comfortable giving your real name here?" Solaris asks, surprised.

"Is that a bad thing?" Ulrich asks, confused. He doesn't know that, in this game, next to no one uses their real name.

"Not exactly, but...it's just rare to see someone willing to give their real name. What's your game name?" Solaris says, her confusion mounting.

Ulrich opens his character data and opens his profile

"My character status shows that my game name is Ulrich Stern" he says calmly.

"...Why would you choose to use your real life name in this game?" Masaru asks in mild shock.

"Masaru, I want to speak to you privately about this...Keep an eye on this guy, everyone. Kirito, Asuna, you two are in charge until we come back" Solaris whispers as she speaks with Masaru, but uses her usual tone to everyone else.

"Got it" the pair say with a short salute, seeing that Solaris and Masaru are higher ranked compared to Kirito and Kiabou.

* * *

Solaris and Masaru walk a short distance with Elena, Pulse, and Haruka following to help keep Solaris steady, since she's still suffering from the penalty to using Sleuth, to avoid anyone from overhearing their upcoming conversation.

"Masaru, there is no way this guy's telling the truth about his name. I looked through the Monument of Life the first day of the launch, and Ulrich Stern was not on the list" Solaris says, her voice brimming with seriousness.

"Is it possible you could've overlooked it, Solaris? Or is it somehow possible that Argus released more copies of SAO?" Masaru asks, doubting her slightly and fearing the worst.

"No, I recorded each and every name on that list, and Ulrich Stern is not among them" Solaris says angrily, her patience wearing thin. "Though, if Argus was able to pull off such a thing, then that definitely is worrying. I don't want to imagine more people being stuck here." Solaris says darkly.

"I will admit this is bizarre but look, this guy can lead us to the dungeon. Let's just follow him, find a shortcut back to town that can circumvent this forest, bring him with us, and just drop him off," Pulse says shortly.

"Works for me, though...Masaru, everyone...," Solaris says quietly, seeming to have something major in her thoughts.

"Solaris, are you contemplating bringing this guy into our ranks?" Masaru asks semi-angrily, knowing good and well that's what she's thinking.

"Let's look at the facts; he's utterly unknown to us, but he's been here long enough to make a map using the Mirage Sphere. Who knows, he could be a good asset to us, at least until we're out of this forest. At the bare minimal, we need to keep an attentive eye on him in case he tries killing any of us" Solaris says seriously.

"...I can see why you'd want to keep an eye on this unknown variable, but if you truly want to recruit him, fine, but test him first. I do not want to trust a person who would backstab me when he saw fit" Masaru says coldly, with a degree of anger towards Solaris wanting to recruit a new warrior out of the blue.

"Oh, I intend to test him..." Solaris says mischievously, her lips curving up into a sly smile.

"What's the plan, and how are we going to make it work?" Elena asks, uttering her first words since the whole conversation began.

"I need you to keep this secret from the others, but we're going to be running tests on this...Ulrich's personality and skills. We need to see how he acts casually and when under distress, and thus his results will help us determine if he should be among our ranks or not. I trust you can help me judge his personality, Elena? Masaru, I'm leaving you in charge of judging his skills. We need to keep this test thing from everyone else until we get results. That includes Kirito, Asuna, and the others, as well. _Especially_ this Ulrich character" Solaris says sternly.

"Is there any way I can help, Solaris?" Haruka asks the group leader.

"Masaru and I are going to be acting hostile enough to try provoking responses on his personality, but I want you and Elena to be the sympathetic soul that's on his side. I trust you all can keep this charade going?" Solaris inquires of her group.

"I think we can make it work. So, let me make sure I've got this straight. We're trying to use anger to provoke a response from personality? I...can't see that ending well" Elena says quietly with a little worry.

"I agree with Elena on this one. Pushing someone over the edge does typically result in violence being inflicted and here, in this world, we need to minimize that." Pulse says seriously, knowing that things could get very dangerous if things get bad.

"We'll make it work somehow. This is something we need to do quickly. If the other clearers learn of this, they'll most likely be in an uproar, so we need to deliver a cooperative warrior" Solaris states flatly.

"Yeah, that'd be a problem if he's aggressive to the others. Anyway, Solaris, how aggressive do you want me to perform in this assignment?" Masaru asks...a bit too happily.

"Keep a lid on the hostility. Just act mean enough to get on his nerves, but please try to avoid provoking him to where he'll want to kill us all..." Solaris says nervously. She's a little scared of how Masaru seems to be enjoying this.

"Got it" Masaru replies, his voice disturbingly calm.

* * *

Solaris and the others walk back to Ulrich to begin the trek to the dungeon.

"Okay...Ulrich, lead us to the dungeon, got it?" Solaris says coldly, beginning the plan right then.

"Alright..." Ulrich says quietly and a little confused. He begins the walk to the lake first, then the dungeon, with the unit of ten following behind.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:30] January 16th 2023

Ulrich leads the group to the lake that apparently is in the heart of the Forest of Doubt, while the clearers take a short break to recover from all the fights they've been in thus far. Ulrich is a little curious about the fact Masaru and Solaris appear so hostile to him all of a sudden.

"Solaris, Masaru, what's your problem? Did I upset you somehow?" Ulrich asks, truly wishing to know if he had done something wrong.

"Don't talk to me...I'm trying to think of some strategies for the upcoming dungeon clearing..." Solaris says coldly.

"Stern, don't bother her, we need her strategies if any of us hope to clear this game smoothly" Masaru growls.

"I won't bother you as long as I can get the reason why you seem utterly pissed off at me," Ulrich states quietly, despite his growing aggrivation.

"Ulrich, just give them a little space. They're two of the most important people in this world right now, and they have tons of work to do," Elena says compassionately, acting as a counter-balance to Masaru and Solaris' aggressive behavior. Walking toward the pair, she whispers, "_Masaru, Solaris, not that I have any complaints, but is this wise?_"

"Just chill out, Elena, I'm not sure about Masaru, but I'm faking all this hostility. But actually, I am rather busy with the whole strategy thing, though."

"I take offense to that, Solaris! I'm acting just like you. I'm just better at appearing hostile unlike you" Masaru growls defensively.

"I'll believe ya, Masaru, but remember my instructions" Solaris responds seriously.

"Understood. I'll keep it on the down-low" Masaru responds with an inaudible sigh.

Meanwhile, Ulrich is starting to get fed up with the hostile attitudes of Solaris and Masaru and walks away from them. The two players that were with Solaris, Masaru, and Elena walk toward Ulrich

"Don't let them get to you. They may be acting cold but Solaris and Masaru are two of four field leaders that are keeping all of us organized. They have the lives of thousands depending on them all" Pulse says calmly.

"Exactly! They don't mean anything by it. They just have so many responsibilities they need to handle. Kirito and Kibaou are field leaders too, but Solaris and Masaru are higher ranked because of her strategies and his power and adaptability" Haruka says, also keeping a calm tone.

"Either way, I'm getting sick of their attitude. How can you two stand working with them?" Ulrich grumbles.

"You just caught them on a bad day. They're usually very charismatic and down to earth. There are four field leaders leading all of us: Solaris, Masaru, Kirito, and Kibaou. While these four are inexperienced, they're doing everything in their ability to lead us all to safety. Although...we've been suffering casualties each floor we enter. Many people are beginning to think badly of them as a result. Even so...They always try their best" Pulse explains in a somber tone, with him frowning when speaking of the ever-growing dilemma between the field leaders and the players.

"I see...So that's why they're in such a bad mood..."

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:00] January 16th 2023

The group of eleven have made it to the dungeon entrance after a half hour of walking after the break, and have discovered the circumvent point to the nearest settlement.

"Color me impressed, we've actually found it. This is the dungeon alright" Solaris says, truly surprised.

"I've been walking to and from the lake and here a few times by mistake...It's why I know the path so well..." Ulrich says quietly.

"I see. Well, good work...Ulrich..." Elena says slowly, and happily, to keep her cover up.

"Let's get going. And Ulrich, put this robe on" Solaris says calmly, while summoning a robe from her inventory and tossing it to him.

"Why do you want me to wear this?" Ulrich asks curiously.

"For now, you need to keep a low profile and that outfit makes it impossible. Just wear it" Solaris says calmly at the start and a little angrily at the end.

"Fine..." Ulrich says angrily in a quiet tone and equips the robe.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [11:00] January 16th 2023

Location [Floor 24 – Panareze]

Solaris, Masaru, and her unit have returned to Panareze with Ulrich in tow in his robe. Considering how Ulrich doesn't seem to have any other clothing, Solaris sends Masaru and Elena to bring Ulrich to a shop to get some new clothing in order to help him blend in more and not stand out in a crowd.

"Masaru, Elena, I want the both of you to bring Ulrich to a few shops. He told us that he has nothing but the clothes on his back, his katana, and 50,000 Col. Get him to buy some new clothing, a back up weapon or two, and supplies" Solaris instructs the two.

"Got it Solaris" Elena says and gives a quick nod.

Because Solaris, Elena, and Masaru were in a different part of the town square, a ways away from Ulrich, they were able to talk at a normal tone. Masaru and Elena depart to help Ulrich prepare the essentials for combat.

"_Hmm...Elena's always just been a regular warrior in my unit but...She's been showing remarkable initiative lately. Maybe she deserves a promotion of sorts..._" Solaris mutters to herself quietly.

After Ulrich learned Elena and Masaru were told to help him shop for the essentials, they set out to help him do so, and not use impulse buying for anything. They first bring him to the clothing shop to get some new trends, in which Ulrich surprisingly selects a long sleeved shirt colored purple and red and buying two pauldrons colored green with a single thick white stripe going up to down and attaching them to the outfit as casual wear, with Ulrich buying a set of light chain-mail for combat.

"Wow, considering the outfit you were wearing before, this is a twist..." Elena says in mild shock, trying not to come off as rude.

"It's my choice and I feel like this just fits me best" Ulrich says sheepishly.

"Eh, let him pick what he wants, just as long as he blends in better" Masaru says flatly, acting as if he could care less.

"_Masaru...Do you think you'll be able to control yourself? You seem way too eager about this..._" Elena whispers in concern.

"_Just chill, Elena. I have this fake anger under control. I won't let it take control of me as long as I think of it as following orders_" Masaru replies quietly.

"_Now I'm even more worried!_" Elena whispers back in shock.

Ulrich had noticed this and tilts his head slightly in confusion, but ignores it because he just doesn't care right now. They leave the clothing shop and walk toward stalls to buy crystals, potions, and weapons, with him purchasing three katanas alongside the others.

"Ulrich, you know, I'm surprised you use a katana, I've only seen one other katana user, and that was a player named Klein, a leader of a small guild called Fuurinkazan. And he only got the skill two days ago, so he has very little experience with it. But you...you seem to have a lot of experience with Katanas. What skills do you have actually?" Elena asks curiously.

"_...I highly doubt they'd find it normal for me to have such powerful skills on floor 24...I think I should lie about it for now..._" Ulrich says to himself. "I have three unique abilities I don't feel like saying right now, but according to my skills, I have 100 points out of a thousand for katana, 250 points out of a thousand for something called...extended weight limit, 300 points for night vision, 300 for tracking, and 150 for...battle healing" Ulrich says quietly with an unnoticeable twitch. He was lying to hide the secret that Cardinal and that AI: Yui, went to such lengths to give him allowances because of his unorthodox entry into Aincrad.

"_Ulrich was twitching slightly when he talked about his skills...He may be lying. I'm curious as to what his skill levels really are...Maybe I'll be able to get him to squeal while I'm 'helping' him out_" Elena whispers to herself.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:00] January 16th 2023

Ulrich bought a new katana to use as back-up, and a good amount of crystals that were recommended by Elena and Masaru, and returned to Solaris in the town square, who has already gathering a group of warriors for the upcoming dungeon reconnaissance.

"Elena, Masaru, good you're both here, I don't need to send anyone to track you down now. I've made a decision on the unit roster for today's reconnaissance. Elena, sorry to say but you, Mikuya, and Pulse need to stay behind on this one. Masaru, you're with me and Kirito" Solaris instructed.

"Got it, Solaris. What's the size of the team?" Masaru inquires.

"Thirty overall. New guy, you're with us, as well" Solaris says nonchalantly.

"Okay Sol, but why keep us back?" Elena asks, somewhat offended, trying to understand Solaris' logic here.

"We can't have all of our best going to the dungeon at once; it's too risky, Elena. Stay back and try preparing for the absolute worst, just in case..." Solaris says gravely.

"I see now. Well…best of luck to you all" Elena says quietly, feeling a tiny bit left out.

Solaris walks toward Elena, who's feeling a little down and whispers, "_Elena, it's like I said, I don't want to risk taking all of our best on this one. I feel safer leaving a back-up contingent in case something bad happens to us. I know I can trust you: Second in Command_" Solaris says compassionately to her comrade.

"Oh...I see. Best of luck, Sol. I won't let you down," Elena says, feeling renewed by Solaris' words and now understanding the situation.

"If we're lucky, we'll have floor twenty five unlocked in a couple of days. The four of us want this floor cleared ASAP" Solaris says calmly, before walking back to her group. "Everyone! We're heading out!" Solaris says proudly, with the entire group of thirty marching out to the circumvent point Solaris' group had found not too long ago.


	4. Chapter 3: Trials of Escalation

After 2 years of being in Aincrad and this different world, does Ulrich even desire to return to his own world or try to find a way to live in this new world?

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the original creator of the SAO universe; credits also to the creators and contributors to the Code Lyoko series and related works._

* * *

A/N:

I'll be using a common time system of [9:30], [14:00] etc. [9:30] is 9:30 in the morning, [14:00] is 2:00 in the afternoon, so on and so forth.

The reason why I'm shifting from real names to game names half way through is because of the fact Karen, Katsuo, Kana, Sylvia (tiny exception between Katsuo, Kana, & Keiko, and Haruka & Mamoru since they know each other in real life) didn't know their true identities back then.

I need to thank Evangelina Amaryllis for beta reading this chapter.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [18:30] May 20th 2024

Location: [Floor 61 – Salemburg]

Ulrich is currently relaxing by himself in a house he bought in the city. He'd managed to get it for a price of around 10 million col. He's not truly at peace; he's thinking about his companions in his true world, and all of the people that have been lost since he arrived in this world.

Although the Senryaku unit owns property on floor 36, Karen had decided to begin spreading out roots for the group, and encouraged the members to purchase housing on various floors as a way to enhance the group's adaptability. Amaterasu owns the guild house on floor 36, Katsuo owns a rather big house in Algade on floor 50, Sylvia owns a house in Danac on floor 59, and Karen and Ulrich own houses in Salemburg. Keiko bought property in Floria on floor 47, Rika owns property in Lindas on floor 48, and Kazuto, Mamoru, and Haruka co-own a house in Myugen on floor 49. These houses were purchased as extra places for the Senryaku unit to recuperate, the members often coming and going from the various properties they all collectively own.

Even though he's been here over a year and befriended many of the clearers, he still feels like an outcast and keeps to himself, declining multiple guild invitations in order to fight as a solo player, even though he works with Karen and her team.

"I've been here for so long, my friends must be worried sick by now, but… What were their names? I haven't been able to contact them at all since I arrived in this world of Aincrad." Ulrich says with a heaved sigh.

There's a knock on the door not long after he speaks.

"Who is it?" Ulrich asks in a calm tone.

"It's me, Kazuto. Can I come in?" Kazuto calls.

"Uh, give me a minute. I'm still wearing my combat gear." Ulrich says mildly, not having expected Kazuto to stop by so suddenly.

* * *

He begins unequipping his current combat armor, which had made him look like a modern samurai and changed into his casual gear, which he changed at floor 40; a long sleeved shirt with light black and silver colors. After Ulrich changes his clothes, he opens the door to let Kazuto in.

* * *

"Is there a reason why you're here? I'd imagine you'd want to spend all your time with your girlfriends: Asuna, Rika, Keiko, and Sachi." Ulrich says with a laugh.

"Hikaru, I don't think of them that way and you know it! You know, I should call you out on Kana, Sylvia, and Karen! After all, all three of them live here with you and Katsuo!" Kazuto says, blushing furiously at the comment.

"You know Kana's only into Katsuo, and Sylvia and Karen don't think of me that way. I gotta say, it's hardly convincing when you're blushing like a little school girl, Kazuto!" Ulrich says, roaring with laughter.

"Knock it off! This isn't funny..." Kazuto says in anger. "Wow...and people call ME dense?! This guy has no idea does he? Though he is right about Kana and Sylvia not having much interest in him, Karen...I'm not certain." Kazuto thinks to himself, laughing inaudibly.

"I suppose so. Sorry about that; I needed a bit of a laugh" Ulrich says apologetically.

"Actually, now that I think about it...we became friends on the 40th floor, and became close friends about a month ago, but you still haven't talked about your friends or your home, especially since we're on a first name basis." Kazuto says, calming down slightly, but is still mildly flushed because of what just happened.

"Because I've been trying to focus on trying to clear this game and return to my world." He explained. "But I suppose I ought to mention it - not that I can remember much, to be honest." Ulrich says calmly, but seems a little down trying to recall the past.

"You can't remember your world? I can relate, I myself can hardly remember the outside world; very few people I know of do." Kazuto says with a small nod in agreement.

"After spending around three years here, I wouldn't be surprised that the memory of your real world is vague." Ulrich says, coming to a logical conclusion.

"You're lucky though, Hikaru. We're all trapped with a time limit before our bodies inevitably give in." Kazuto says with mild jealousy, since Ulrich can keep fighting since his body is actually in Aincrad, unlike everyone else.

"I wouldn't call it lucky. At least you live in the world outside of Aincrad; I'm a mere intruder. I don't belong here, and don't forget about that annoying problem I have..." Ulrich says, getting slightly annoyed at how the others were jealous of what he didn't even seem to have.

"That kind of talk is making me mad Hikaru; granted you did not enter Sword Art Online of your own free will, but you do belong with us no matter what, and…" He paused before speaking again. "It must be terrifying for you when it happens. I can't imagine the pain of it." Kazuto was serious, and seemed a little freaked out at the end.

"It is terrifying, and… Thank you, Kazuto" Ulrich says with mixed emotions, confirming Kazuto's thoughts before expressing his gratitude.

"Don't mention it. Anyway, how are Katsuo, Karen, Kana, and Sylvia treating you? Are they here?" Kazuto asks with a few laughs.

"Sylvia's currently out shopping; she left about ten minutes ago, but she said she'll be back in about a half hour. Karen's with Keita, Kana, Nanak, and Thinker at a meeting, and Katsuo… I have no damn idea. Lately, he's been more mysterious than you." Ulrich states calmly, listing everyone's location as if reading it aloud.

"I see. That's good to hear, I guess." Kazuto says chuckling.

* * *

The door opens at this point and Sylvia walks in, wearing a new outfit she bought on the frontlines, which is a gold colored casual one-piece dress.

"I'm back; it was easier to get the food ingredients than I thought. Oh, Kazuto, what are you doing here?" Sylvia asks.

"I came to talk with Hikaru a little bit, but I should get going" Kazuto says while beginning to depart.

"You don't need to leave, Hikaru and I were just about to eat, I guess Karen, Kana, and Katsuo are going to be missing out on this with the clearing meeting and whatever Katsuo's doing, anyway, feel free to join in." Sylvia says, optimistically.

"I appreciate the offer, but I'll need to decline" Kazuto says, persistent on leaving.

"Come on, I insist" Sylvia says, pushing the subject further.

"Just give up Kazuto, you know she's not going to give in until you do." Ulrich says laughing a little at the little argument. Kazuto exchanges a glance with Sylvia and Ulrich and sighs in defeat.

"Very well, I'll stay and eat with you all" Kazuto says in defeat.

"Excellent, now, I'd better start. Hikaru, can you handle the silverware? I'll do the cooking, I don't want a repeat of last time." Sylvia says and shivers at the memory of the previous incident.

The last time Ulrich cooked about three months, he somehow managed to pull off six simultaneous explosions and made him lose an eighth of his max HP - something not even possible in this world.

"Alright, alright; Kazuto, feel free to stay in the den until dinner's ready. I need to do my part here." Ulrich says as he leaves to the dining room.

* * *

Kazuto takes this time to head to the den to relax by the fire, this being the first time he's relaxed in about a month, and is quickly enjoying every possible minute of it before it's over.

"How do you like the den Kazuto?" Ulrich asks, as he enters the room, having finished his part of the dinner preparation. It didn't take a lot of effort from him.

"It's excellent, considering how obsessed you are with combat. I wouldn't expect you to have such an excellent house." Kazuto says with a slightly bemused tone.

"You can thank the girls for that. Originally, I only had a simple kitchen, a couple of bedrooms, and a dining room in this place, but they suggested adding extensions and upgrades to the furniture to make this more appropriate when you share a house with roommates." Ulrich says, admitting the help he'd gotten.

"I really should thank them then." Kazuto says with a few laughs.

"Dinner's ready!" Sylvia shouts from the kitchen, interrupting their conversation.

"We should go eat, before Sylvia tries kicking our asses..." Ulrich whispers, with a laugh masking nervous emotions.

"She's that scary?" Kazuto asks at a similar volume.

"Mhm… She's friendly most of the time, but if you get on her bad side, she'll go all out..." Ulrich replies nervously.

"Just like Asuna..." Kazuto mutters fearfully.

* * *

The pair go to the dining room, when the three of them hear more people walk in.

"We're back Hikaru, Sylvia. Geez, did that meeting take a while" Karen says with a sigh.

"Tell me about it… Katsuo, you are such a lucky bastard; you don't need to attend meetings like this. unlike us..." Kana says with a heavy sigh, not really knowing, or even caring, if Katsuo is there or not.

"You forgot someone Karen, Kana" Kazuto says with a very mild pout.

"Eh? Oh, sorry Kazuto; didn't notice you there." Karen says semi-apologetically.

"Sorry about not noticing you Kazuto, but we're not in top form, we've been through a lot today. After we eat, we plan on going to sleep..." Kana says with a small yawn as evidence for her claim.

Ulrich, Karen, Kana, and Kazuto go to eat the meal Sylvia prepared for the group. After they finished eating their meal, Kazuto began to depart, with Kana immediately going to her room for the night so she can sleep. Karen, on the other hand, feels that she needs to be a good host, so she decides to hold off on sleeping until Kazuto's gone.

* * *

"I appreciate that you went to such lengths for me, but I really must get going, I'll see you all later." Kazuto says with a grateful bow. He leaves Ulrich's house rather happily, laughing a little at the sheer aftermath of having a meal with some friends.

"Having Kazuto here makes me remember my first month here a little bit..." Ulrich mutters under his breath, unaware that he'd said it out loud.

"Is something wrong Hikaru? You seem a little uneasy." Karen asks in concern.

"Hm? Oh, I'm remembering how I acted the first month I came here… I hate how stubborn I was back then; I was so mean to you, Kazuto and the others." Ulrich says sadly. "Though, what you guys did to me then was outright cruel" Ulrich says with a hint of anger.

"Oh come on! I said I was sorry for that at least ten times! How was I supposed to know?!" Karen retorts in both mild anger and shock.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time [10:00] February 1st, 2023

Location: [Floor 25 Hidden Dungeon]

Ulrich is with a group of six clearers in the 25th floor dungeon's scouting team: Solaris, Masaru, Elena, Haruka, Pulse, and himself. Elena, Haruka, and Pulse did try convincing Solaris and Masaru to return to town but were overruled because of how vital they've become to scouting with Solaris' Sleuth and Masaru's own strength so they are tagging along like always.

Solaris is the best strategist the front-liners possess, primarily because of her unique skill of Sleuth. She is continuously thinking of strategies to maximize combat strength for the front-liners; her speciality is developing tactics for the others. Masaru is one of the strongest members in the front-liners and is the field leader in charge of leading the fighters in battle alongside Kirito. Kibaou is the field leader involving himself with information gathering which is among the most important job of all, but Kibaou is the most hated field leader because of his general personality.

"Alright, let's get going with the investigation, the others are depending on us" Solaris says with pride.

Masaru, Elena, Solaris, Haruka, Pulse, and Ulrich enter the dungeon and begin mapping the dungeon and find the boss chamber as quickly as they can, as was their goal.

"Solaris, I have to ask, why did you decide to come with us? You're not much of a fighter." Elena asks out of curiosity, trying to keep cover somehow.

"Mmm… No real reason, I just wanted to see how well Ulrich does in battle. I'm putting a lot of trust into faith, and I don't like that. Particularly with how no one noticed him before, not even I have seen him before we explored the Forest of Doubt." Solaris says, acting like she has no reason to be there, even though she intentionally gave her reason. She wanted to seem like she didn't want to be there.

"I will not disappoint your expectations; I am your lance, give me a target and I will slay it, no matter what." Ulrich says coldly, having gotten fed up with all of the hostile interactions between him, Solaris, and Masaru.

"Talk is cheap Ulrich, prove yourself through your actions." Masaru orders.

"Gladly, I will do whatever's needed to perform my mission." Ulrich says harshly.

* * *

The scouting party sets out to explore as much of the dungeon as possible. The team of six, which includes the fighters: Ulrich, Masaru, and Elena fighting on the front, Pulse providing cover with his bow and arrow, Haruka keeping him covered in case any monsters try attacking him, and Solaris providing intelligence & strategy.

"Ulrich, your skill with the katana is amazing, did you have training in real life or something?" Elena says rather happily, amazed at Ulrich's strong skills with Katana.

"Well… I suppose so..." Ulrich says quietly.

"Elena, why are you letting yourself be so easily impressed by this novice?" Masaru says, not out of jealousy precisely, but out of contempt that she respects a person that he considers to be an absolute rookie.

"I'm impressed because his skill is remarkable, Klein's considered the best Katana user so far in Sword Art Online, but Ulrich's skill with a katana is on a different level entirely." Elena says rather proudly.

Masaru sighs, knowing he won't be able to win the argument against Elena "Very well, I'll admit his talents are… Unusual at best, but he is skilled."

* * *

During the exploration of the dungeon, they encounter a rather infamous character dressed in black, who has made a name for himself as Aincrad's very first beater and is one of the field leaders in Aincrad.

"Kirito, what are you doing here on your own?" Masaru asks in shock; all reports said that only this group would be here until noon.

"Huh? Masaru, you've come in a team, I presume you're doing reconnaissance?" Kirito asks in equal shock.

"Yeah, we're trying to map this dungeon for the upcoming boss fight." Masaru says.

"Well, since you came all this way, I'll accompany you all, at least for a little while" Kirito says quietly.

"Let's get going then" Masaru says.

* * *

The team of six recruit Kirito into their ranks for the time being to continue investigation of the dungeon, with Kirito's skills increasing the power of the group. The seven find a safe room and take a short break to recover their strength. Kirito, Masaru, Pulse, and Solaris form a small circle in the center of the room, with Ulrich on his own in the southwest corner and Elena and Haruka in the southeast corner, taking a short rest.

"Masaru, have you been able to get any information about that guy?" Kirito asks in a conversational tone in reference to the young man in the southwest corner.

"Sadly no; no one has been able to get any information about him, not even Solaris." Masaru says in a slightly annoyed tone, as he doesn't appear to like Ulrich much, and obviously doesn't appreciate his presence.

"Yeah… He's definitely no beta tester, I would've recognized him if he was, and I was able to compile a list of the 10000 players in this game, and his name was not on the list before we met him in the Forest of Doubt. Is it possible that Kayaba released more copies of SAO?" Solaris says with mixed emotion.

"It's unlikely, for two reasons: Argus wouldn't dare make more copies with the bad reputation this game now has, and even if the reputation was repaired, the fact is that we're trapped here; would anyone want to be here?" Masaru says, seeming angrier.

"Masaru makes a point there, Argus wouldn't be able to get away with imprisoning more people." Solaris says quietly.

"Good point but that brings up a topic of discussion. How did this guy get here...? And how did he end up in a place we had never even explored before that point?" Pulse says quietly, trying to figure out this complex puzzle of Ulrich's arrival.

While Kirito, Masaru, Pulse, and Solaris are talking about Ulrich's mysterious entrance, Elena and Haruka are in the corner talking about various things

* * *

"Hmm… I don't want to disobey Sol and Masaru, but this is starting to push the line. I know this is needed… But I don't want to do this anymore...damn it all...I don't want to go through with this anymore." Elena thinks to herself in mixed tones. "Sometimes I REALLY hate following orders, particularly when it's an order like this"

"Elena, you doing okay? You seem...uneasy." Haruka asks in concern, knowing how dangerous the initial mapping is. They have no idea what to expect in the dungeon.

"I'm… I'm okay. It's just...can you keep a secret Mikuya?" Elena mutters quietly, seeming hesitant to speak.

"Sure, what's bothering you? We can't afford anyone off their game here." Haruka says in a serene tone, wanting to help her fellow frontliner.

Elena pauses before letting herself speak."Mikuya, I'm actually following that plan formed by Solaris and… I don't like it one bit. I'm just fearful that he'll be pushed over the edge and want to kill us. I'm terrified of that." Elena says quietly, dreading the possible outcomes.

"Oh… I see… I'm just as terrified as you, but look; if you need my help, let me know." Haruka says, her tone nothing short of encouraging.

"Thanks Mikuya… I'm grateful." Elena responds with a sheepish smile.

Elena and Haruka continue their discussion for quite a while and ultimately decided to ignore it because she knows that something like this needs to be done ASAP, while the mysterious warrior: Ulrich, is merely sitting in his corner, waiting for the others to finish their recovery and conversations so they can leave. Elena and Solaris approach Ulrich, as they decided to try getting him to open up, even if just a tiny bit.

* * *

"Ulrich, is something wrong? You've been quiet all this time" Elena asks with concern.

"Don't worry about it, I'm just waiting for you all to finish, so we can get back to battling" Ulrich says quietly.

"Yeah… It doesn't work that way. If we're going to work together, we need to make sure everyone is able to get along, and you're not making the best example by how hesitant you seem to be." Solaris says stubbornly, disliking Ulrich's attitude.

"How is it my fault that you all won't trust me? I'm here only to fight." Ulrich says quietly, still apparently not willing to trust anyone in the vicinity.

"Ulrich, look, we're not trying to put blame on you, but Solaris has a point. Don't you know that if there's no unity between teammates, their strength will decline?" Elena points out, trying to appeal to Ulrich's personality.

"For that to occur, I would need to know them and trust them to have my back. I do not trust any of you to protect me, and therefore I will keep myself safe." Ulrich replies, hardening his head and sending a scowl in Solaris' direction.

"Mataku, Elena, you can deal with this guy if you wish. I'm going to coordinate some strategies with Masaru, Pulse, and Kirito. I'll tell you them later, and you can pass it to this guy..." Solaris says, returning the sour expression. "I can tell he's reaching the limits of what we're trying to do… This can either go exactly as we planned, or far worse. Even I know that this is one of the most risky plans that I've thought of, so it's a bit of a gamble. If things get out of line, we'll need to cut this loose end free… God knows I do not want to do that if we have other options." Her mind says in mild fear.

Solaris leaves the corner and returns to Masaru, Kirito, Pulse, and Haruka, who have gathered in the middle of the room.

* * *

"Ulrich, why are you being so cold to your allies? It helps no one in the long term." Elena asks a little worriedly.

"I was forced to enter this world against my will. I have no desire to get all buddy-buddy with the people here" Ulrich says, ice dripping from his words.

"Ulrich, wouldn't you find it helpful to have a trusted ally at your back? Trying to fight on your own will not help you in the future." Elena says, trying to encourage Ulrich to accept teammates.

"I only trust three people right now, and none of them are here, so get off my back..." Ulrich mutters, keeping his stance.

"Ulrich, listen, I want to help you; just give me a chance" Elena says in a relatively sad tone.

"Look, do you honestly expect me to trust people with my life from a single encounter?! I am not that trusting!" Ulrich says angrily, finally losing his calm composure. The girl's insistence was getting quite annoying to him.

Elena realizes that trying to talk to Ulrich now is becoming pointless and walks away to rejoin Solaris and the others. After ten minutes, Ulrich finally joins the group to discuss the strategy for the dungeon.

* * *

"Our plan is to form two groups and try to reach the boss chamber, we are to leave the dungeon at 17:00 and combine our map datas." Solaris announces.

"Solaris, how will our teams be divided? Males and females?" Masaru asks.

"No, Ulrich, Elena, and Pulse will be with me. Kirito, Masaru, and Mikuya, I want you three to work together on this one." Solaris replies calmly.

"Solaris, you want to trust a rookie to be in your personal guard?!" Masaru asks in shock.

"Don't question me Masaru, you'll never win." Solaris says with a small laugh.

"Very well, but Elena, Pulse, make sure you two take precautions to keep Solaris alive, if we lose her, we'll lose a great deal of strength." Masaru says, glaring at the other two as if it would intensify his orders.

"Understood, but I hardly think that will be necessary with three fighters near her." Elena says in a serious tone.

"Be careful anyway; I don't trust this guy one bit..." Masaru says with mild anger in his voice.

"Understood" Elena says quietly, not wanting to add to Masaru's obvious temper.

"Alright, we have our assignments, let's get going." Solaris says.

* * *

The group of seven leave the safe room and split ways to thoroughly explore the dungeon and then bring the map data back to Floor 25's meeting ground for the clearers: Iruma, with Kirito, Masaru, and Haruka going left, and Solaris, Ulrich, Elena, and Pulse going right.

Solaris is leading the team with Ulrich, Elena, and Pulse fighting the monsters on her behalf, gathering intelligence on the strengths and weaknesses of the monsters herself for future reference, silently hoping that Kirito is taking the time to analyze information as well.

"Solaris, why would you want me to go with you? Surely Masaru would've been a better choice." Ulrich asks quietly.

"Consider this a test, Ulrich, I want to know if you belong with the front-liners; we need the best of the best here. You have the skills, certainly, but your personality is making us doubt you. If you'd be willing to cooperate, we'd gladly accept you in our ranks." Solaris replies.

"Yeah, that's what I've been trying to tell you, Ulrich" Elena says cheerfully.

"I see... Solaris; Look out!" Ulrich yells, noticing a monster charging toward Solaris.

Ulrich instinctively uses one of his unique skills: Super-Sprint to push Solaris out of the way of the charging monster, which succeeds but the monster's sword's slash targets Ulrich's left arm and dismembers it, which quickly disintegrates into millions of little pixels. The group stare in horror at the fact his arm is outright gone, with mild pixelated blood appearing after his arm was slashed off, which vanishes nearly instantaneously.

"Ugh… I will not… Let that slide! You're done for!" Ulrich growls in pain, panting softly as he draws his katana with his right arm and then uses his fast speed to cut the monster in half, which nearly instantly destroys it.

With the monster slain, Ulrich's adrenaline dissipates and he collapses from shock and pain, with him panting more heavily. After he collapses, Pulse takes up his bow and divides his attention between the two ways monsters could charge at them from, to prevent this from happening again.

* * *

"Ulrich! Are you okay?!" Elena cries out in shock, running towards him with Solaris at her side.

"I'm…fine…agh..." Ulrich mutters, trying to hide his pain; as the pain absorber that exists with the NerveGear is non-existent for him since his mind and body both exist in Aincrad unlike the others who only exist here in their minds, but his attempt to hide his pain is failing badly since Solaris and Elena are too perceptive for him to hide it.

"Ulrich… Why did you do that?" Solaris asks sadly, trying to find out why he would do this, with the test she devised temporarily leaving her mind.

"I am your lance and shield, I am also following Masaru's request; you must live if we are to advance… I am but a single fighter, fighters are seldom missed, but strategists are valuable and must be protected, no matter what" Ulrich says quietly and nonchalantly, grunting from the pain. He never did predict that injuries like this would affect him this badly.

"Ulrich… You idiot." Solaris whispers, looking like she's about to start crying.

"Solaris..." Ulrich says quietly.

"You won't be much help in combat in this state, looks like Pulse and I will have to fight on our own." Elena says dejectedly.

"I'm sorry Elena, my decision to do this is forcing you to fight alone." Ulrich says quietly.

"You did it to protect me, the clearer's best strategist - you don't need to feel bad about it." Solaris says with a few sobs of what could very well be mistaken for guilt. She felt bad for doubting Ulrich at first.

"Sol, should we continue advancing or should we try regrouping with Kirito and Masaru and leave?" Elena asks. Solaris takes a minute to examine the surroundings and the energy of her teammates.

"No, we're going to regroup; Ulrich's badly injured and I can tell you're getting tired, Elena. I say this is enough. Elena, I know what I said, but right now, I need both you and Pulse to pick up the slack in battle. Hopefully Masaru, Kirito, and Mikuya found the boss chamber." Solaris says, regaining her composure.

"Understood Sol, do you need someone for Ulrich to lean on?" Elena asks in concern.

"I'll be alright." Ulrich says, obviously lying. He just didn't want to look weak in front of them, relying on the support of another.

"Ulrich, you are lying right now. I know you're faking this. Sol, could I ask you to handle this job? Pulse and I need to keep ourselves free in case we get attacked." Elena says confidently.

"Ulrich, what's really going on here? I don't understand how you can be in this much pain, doesn't the NerveGear prevent that from happening?" Solaris asks confused, while lightly hanging on to Ulrich, since he's still reeling in pain.

"I…can't really explain how, since I don't know myself, but I didn't enter Aincrad using this…NerveGear, both my body and mind exist in this world." Ulrich says, not sure if he believes this himself.

"Wait...you didn't enter this game via the NerveGear? I thought all the players needed to register them with the Japanese server." Elena asks in mild shock.

"Wait…You all are from Japan?! How is it that I'm able to understand you? I lived in France all my life, and I never once studied the japanese language." Ulrich says in utter shock.

"Hm… You make a fair point. I've met very few people who know more than one language, maybe this game has a built-in universal translator." Pulse states calmly, keeping his senses to the environment in case monsters try attacking again.

"This is a discussion that should be continued later on. Let's go" Elena says in a serious tone.

* * *

Solaris nods and the group begins back-tracking to the area of the safe room where they find Masaru outside it, apparently waiting for Solaris' group to return.

"Solaris, you made it back, Kirito and Mikuya are waiting outside the dungeon, we've found the boss chamber." Masaru says.

"Good timing actually, we're actually relatively weak in strength, Ulrich's been badly wounded, Elena's getting tired, and Pulse isn't good with melee combat. I hope you're still in top shape." Solaris says with mixed feelings.

"I'm still in good condition, I have sympathy for you, Elena, I know your constitution is not the highest among us, and why am I not surprised that Ulrich is the one in worst shape?" Masaru says with mixed feelings, he does feel bad for Elena, but he scoffs when he mentions Ulrich.

"Masaru, Ulrich got into this condition protecting me. If it wasn't for him, I'd be dead" Solaris says with mild anger, sending a mild wink to Masaru to tell him of the plan.

"Really; you certainly exceeded my very low expectations I have for you, Ulrich." Masaru says, noticing the wink from Solaris.

"Whatever, I'm not here to satisfy your expectations, I'm here to fight for my own goals, but I will protect those in my charge." Ulrich says harshly, not exactly appreciating Masaru's underestimation of him.

"Hmm… You passed my test Ulrich" Masaru says rather optimistically, experiencing an immediate change in tone.

"Say what?" Ulrich asks rapidly, feeling very confused all of a sudden.

"My test was to see how much it took for you to want to work with teams. It might've been excessive, but Solaris, Elena, and I all had a test in store for you in this dungeon." Masaru explains.

"The tests Elena and I had were sort of similar so we bunched them together; we figured you were protective of your colleagues, but we had to know how far that went before we did anything challenging like bosses. We were all acting mean intentionally to try provoking your response, I'm sorry about that" Solaris says with mixed emotion.

"And I suppose you couldn't tell me about it for secrecy's sake?" Ulrich asks in a slightly annoyed tone, since he lost a limb for this 'test', possibly for good.

"Yep, you passed, but I have to say… You sacrificing your arm was…not how I imagined you passing..." Solaris says sadly.

"Yeah, that one caught me off-guard." Elena says with the same level of misery.

"We should get going; Kirito and Mikuya are waiting on us." Masaru says.

* * *

Ulrich, Solaris, Pulse, and Elena nod in approval then depart the dungeon to return to the others, who are waiting outside.


	5. Chapter 4: Revolution

Rated: AU Fiction T

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the original creator of the SAO universe; credits also to the creators and contributors to the Code Lyoko series and related works._

I need to thank Evangelina Amaryllis for beta reading this chapter.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:00] February 12th 2023

Location: [Outside the Floor 25 Dungeon]

The frontliners have been progressing at a rather fast rate with the assistance of powerful players like Kirito, Asuna, Masaru, and Solaris. Solaris has recently modified her strategies slightly to account for Ulrich's attendance and his unique skill set. Ulrich has established a bond - a fragile one, but still a bond - with the field leaders of the clearers: Kibaou, Kirito, Masaru, and Solaris, though Ulrich cannot stand Kibaou's very presence along with his limitless arrogance, but Ulrich respects Kibaou's strength and very little else belonging to the man.

"Alright, here's our plan: Our reconnaissance show that this dungeon is massive in scope, so we are to split into four teams and make our way to the boss separately and regroup outside the boss chamber, we are not to trigger the boss until we all assemble, is that understood?" Solaris says with an authoritative tone, taking control of the situation and utilising her relevance to the team in doing so.

"Got it, Solaris" Masaru and Kirito say in unison, with Kibaou merely scoffing in approval.

"My team will have code-name Alpha, Kirito's team is Beta, Masaru's Gamma, and Kibaou's Delta. We have forty people here, counting us field leaders; each team gets ten people. Form up now" Solaris says with the same tone. The last three words were a blunt order to the others, and she expected her orders to be followed without question.

The clearers that were assembled split to form the teams, with Ulrich and Elena joining Alpha Squad at Solaris' request and Asuna joining Beta. The other, more prominent members of the frontliners: Pulse, Haruka, Miyake, and the others are staying behind at the order of Solaris and Masaru in the scenario that the attack fails. They will need other skilled fighters to take up the mantle of leadership if they fail, and those three would serve as the team's back-up contingent.

"Okay, we have our teams, everyone; let's clear this dungeon!" Solaris announces proudly, her voice confident in their success. At her words, the teams depart to begin the operation and clear the dungeon.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [13:00] February 12th 2023

Location: [Outside the Floor 25 Boss Chamber]

Alpha, Beta, and Gamma squads have arrived outside the boss chamber, but find the door open.

"Why is this door open? The only way it could be is..." Elena says quietly, thinking the possibilities over.

"Damn you Kibaou! We were to supposed to wait for everyone to rendezvous here! Everyone, we're dropping our formation! We need to save what's left of Team Delta's asses." Masaru says in a very annoyed tone, obviously annoyed that the arrogant team leader had completely ignored the orders they had all respected.

The squads rush inside the chamber to find only three members of Delta remaining, with Kibaou among them.

"Everyone, surround the boss, follow my strategy!" Solaris says in an annoyed manner, knowing that Delta has committed the stupidest action ever; facing a boss without waiting for the rest of the raid group was foolish, and she was even more annoyed that Kibaou had made that mistake.

Solaris activates her special Sleuth skill to find the weakness for this boss, hoping to end the battle quickly and keep casualties to a minimal.

"Okay...this boss is named Blade Dancer…" She murmured, but loud enough for her allies to hear. "It's very fast and agile but not very strong with physical strength. It relies on its fast combination attacks to deal damage. Everyone, take up formations to handle heavy hit and run!" Solaris says in her typical authoritative tone, becoming weaker after utilizing Sleuth.

However, because of the fact that Delta prematurely started the fight, very few people in this group are ready to handle the fight and sixteen casualties are inflicted before consistent damage is being done to Blade Dancer. When the number of fighters in the raid party reach ten, Ulrich decides to unleash another one of his Unique Skills: Triplicate, which divides himself into three and he uses a crystal to heal himself and the clones since they technically are 'one person'.

"Holy, what the hell kind of skill is that?!" Masaru says in shock, definitely not expecting Ulrich of all people to exhibit capabilities such as these.

"I never imagined it possible…He…divided into three…and they're all at full health" Solaris whispers, also in shock as she stares at the three Ulrichs.

With the three clones working together in complete sync, they somehow manage to dismember Blade Dancer's arms, therefore preventing it from attacking, but that also resulted in the two clones vanishing and returning to Ulrich's original form. However, the fact exists that Blade Dancer slayed Kibaou, the rest of Delta, and a very large majority of Alpha, Beta, and Gamma teams; it left only a few people from the three squads remaining before Ulrich pulled this off.

With Blade Dancer unable to attack, it then tries to evade the players' attacks as much as possible, but ultimately this attempt of evasion is foiled by new strategies from Solaris and the remaining players force Blade Dancer into a corner with Ulrich getting the Last Attack Bonus on Blade Dancer, with the surviving members of the group that fought Blade Dancer being: Ulrich, Solaris, Masaru, Elena, Kirito, and Asuna; a considerable amount fewer than how they'd started out.

The bonus Ulrich received was a set of medium armor called Dragon Armor Set. Ulrich opens a preview window and finds that he'd look like an actual knight with this set. He decides to equip it because the statistics are eons better than his current armor. When Ulrich walks toward the others, he hears Masaru talk.

* * *

"God damn it Kibaou… Damn you! Why did you do something so stupid… You god damn idiot!" Masaru mutters, his annoyance at Kibaou's actions profusely evident in his tone. Even though he and the others hated Kibaou, the man was good at gathering information compared to the other field leaders.

"We just lost one of our field leaders… It's going to take quite a while for us to recover from this heavy loss, including the fact we just lost over thirty of our best fighters." Asuna says sadly and quietly at the same time, mourning the loss of her colleague without tears.

"We have never lost this many people before in a single fight… We're not going to be able to remain leaders once everyone learns of this. Over thirty people have died alongside Kibaou…" Masaru says with a heavy sigh, not liking this situation one bit. He happened to like being a leader a little bit, despite it being distasteful most of the time.

While everyone's talking, Ulrich crouches down with his hands linked in front of him seemingly talking to himself.

"Ulrich, what are you doing?" Solaris asks out of curiosity, seeing Ulrich on his knees and muttering something under his breath.

"It's a…burial rite of sorts, I'm saying my farewells to these people..." Ulrich explains quietly.

"Oh, I see…yeah, these were good people, the world is lesser for their loss..." Solaris says, her voice not reaching half the volume it had reached when she was issuing her orders, back when all their allies were alive.

"Solaris, you do understand that we're going to need new leadership soon, don't you? The three of us alone will not be able to lead the frontlines effectively anymore; especially not with the losses we've been taking over the last few weeks. We need specialized guilds to handle clearing the game, gathering our intelligence, and maintaining our equipment." Kirito speaks with little emotion, not trusting his grief to remain hidden.

"You're right but…the thing is, we'd need talented leaders to lead these guilds; they're tough to find…you, Masaru, and I stepped up to leadership roles out of absolute desperation along with the fact that Diabel chose us before he died against Illfang." Solaris mutters, recalling the event as if it was yesterday.

"Everyone, let's try not worry about it for now. Let's just open the door to floor 26 and worry about it later." Elena says, trying to encourage everyone, but mostly her own self.

"Elena…you're right; let's go" Kirito replies with a nod, then goes to open the door to floor 26.

* * *

Aincrad Standard Time: [15:00] February 12th 2023

Location: [Floor 26: Lindar City]

What remains of the raid group for the 25th floor opens the warp portal inside Lindar and quickly goes to the corners to prevent being trampled by the influx of incoming players. What surprises Solaris and her comrades the most is an organized march from five groups.

"Masaru, I'm glad you guys defeated the 25th floor boss but...looking at your numbers… I assume that...?" A light bronze red haired girl asks noticing that only six people survived out of 40. She didn't need to continue the sentence, her meaning obvious.

"Masaru, who is this?" Solaris asks curiously, having not met this girl. She was also slightly offended at this stranger's reminder.

"Oh yeah, you two haven't met yet. Amaterasu, meet Solaris; one of my fellow leaders. Solaris, this is one of my friends: Ami." Masaru says calmly, with an inaudible laugh at the end. It seemed forced, to both Solaris and Amaterasu. He was affected too badly by the deaths of his comrades to laugh honestly.

"I'm going to get you for that one, Masaru. Anyway, I'm pleased to finally meet you Solaris; nearly everyone in Aincrad praises you." Amaterasu speaks to Masaru with a mild scowl, but cheers up when talking with Solaris.

"I'm not that special; I'm just trying to clear this game, just like everyone else." Solaris says with a casual tone, trying her best to not sound like she's faking modesty.

"How modest, hehe." Amaterasu says with a small laugh. The laugh hit a chord somewhere in Solaris' mind, possibly because she wanted everyone to understand what it was like to see over thirty comrades dead from a single battle.

"Anyway, we got bad intel on that boss, which led to Kibaou and 33 of our best perishing as a result. As much as I hate to admit it, having only three…untrained leaders with no guilds backing us up is no longer an option. Things are just getting too dangerous now." Solaris says sadly, hating to admit her own failure.

"That's no longer a problem. Heathcliff, Klein, Keita, Nanak and I held a meeting in the city on floor 25. We have formed guilds to assist you all in clearing the dungeons. Aside from Keita's and Klein's guilds, we already have a few hundred people." Amaterasu says, motioning to her colleagues in order.

"I have formed 'The Knights of the Blood Oath' and with my colleague Nanak, who has formed the guild: 'Divine Dragon Alliance', we will be handling dungeon clearing alongside Klein's Fuurinkazan that he formed before this event. Keita's Black Cats of the Full Moon has stepped up to handle administering our dungeon clearing and investigation efforts, with Amaterasu's Silver Valkyrie guild providing combat support by maintaining and creating our equipment." Heathcliff says upon noticing Amaterasu's gestures and explanations.

"That's…wonderful, but there's still the problem of information, how will that be handled?" Solaris speaks with a sigh of relief; with guilds helping, things will go much more smoothly. She still felt a pang of resentment at the fact that they actually needed the guilds.

"Until we find an ally willing to do such a thing, information gathering will be facilitated by the Black Cats." Amaterasu replies.

"Solaris, I want your team to take a few days off; you've been working non-stop." Heathcliff suggests calmly, trying not to offend her or her allies.

"Thank you Heathcliff, we are a little exhausted" Solaris says, with a small embarrassed chuckle.

"You're all dismissed for two days. Take this time to rest; you'll need it" Heathcliff nods with understanding as he issues the orders.

"Thank you, sir" Solaris says with a bow, despite not really used to taking orders. She usually issued them, so it was a bit of an odd feeling for her.

* * *

What's left of the floor 25 raid group departs to enjoy the R&R that was granted to them by the new clearing guilds, with Amaterasu running toward Solaris, Masaru, Ulrich, and Elena as they just left the town square to the north.

"Ami, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with the others?" Masaru asks a little curiously, receiving a smack on his head as a response to him calling her Ami again. "Ow… What the hell?!" He yells in annoyance to being beaten by the girl.

"Don't call me Ami; I find it idiotic. Anyway, Solaris, do you plan on joining any of the new cells that are forming right now?" Amaterasu asks curiously, after sending another mild scowl toward Masaru.

"Cells?" Solaris asks curiously, quite unsure as to what Amaterasu is talking about.

"Considering the large number of the clearers in the guilds, we're taking up a cell system. It's essentially teams of twenty max. We're doing this to try to maximize our efficiency. The members of my guild: Silver Valkyrie, are being spread out across all of these cells to handle equipment." Amaterasu explains peacefully.

"Solaris, you ought to form your own. There's very little denying you were the best leader out of us four." Masaru says with a kind smile.

"Well…If you insist. Masaru, Elena, Ulrich, you three want to be a part of my…Senryaku unit?" Solaris asks, coming up with the name for her cell, with the japanese word for Strategist. A bashful smile lay on her lips at Masaru's compliment.

"Gladly; I was never suited for leadership. I want to be a fighter without having to deal with all of that political crap." Masaru says with a smile, since he truly despised being a leader.

"If you want me in Sol, I'll accompany you in this Senryaku unit." Elena says calmly.

"Meh, there's no else in this entire damn world right now I could possibly trust besides you guys. I suppose I have no choice but to stick around." Ulrich says with a small sigh, as if joining the cell was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Okay then, would you want to help with our equipment Am-" Masaru tries to say before receiving a truly evil scowl from Amaterasu, seemingly saying 'Call me Ami one more time and you'll regret it' "Amaterasu..." Masaru corrects himself quietly, in the face of her scowl.

"Hm. Since Masaru requested my assistance, I suppose I have no choice but to help, hehe." Amaterasu says laughingly, seemingly unaware of her scowls before, that or she's intentionally hiding it. Instead, innocence bounced off her features.

"Come on everyone, let's go enjoy our rest… Who has the biggest house actually? It'll be a little awkward for us all to sleep in inns." Solaris says a little sheepishly.

"I…don't own a house, actually. I've only used inns." Elena murmurs nervously.

"Same here." Katsuo says a little awkwardly, with a nod from Ulrich.

"Amaterasu? Please tell me you've got something. My house is very small, it only has a single bedroom and kitchen!" Solaris asks desperately.

"Well... It's not a house per say, but I do have a large building on floor 24 I'm using as guild headquarters. It's hardly going to be used because of how we're going to be primarily on the field. We can stay there a while." Amaterasu says, pondering her options.

"We'll owe you for this, Amaterasu. Thank you" Solaris says with a bow of gratitude.

"Don't worry about it. With you leading, and me providing equipment, we both need to do our best for our members." Amaterasu says, as if her suggestion was nothing short of logical and consisted of no kindness whatsoever.


End file.
